Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Port Ludlow

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Port Ludlow, Washington, MarinaPhoto: Akerr · CC BY-SA 3.0
C+History
History · Port Ludlow

Port Ludlow’s post office opened in 1857, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #76 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Port Ludlow was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listings are the Hans Swanson House and the Christian Congregation Church of Port Ludlow. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1937 on, and the census since 2000.

1857first post office
2on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Port Ludlow’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Port Ludlow began

When was Port Ludlow founded?

1857

The Port Ludlow post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,968 in 20002020 census: 2,959169 years

How historic is Port Ludlow?

C+

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Port Ludlow post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Port Ludlow’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Port Ludlow is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #76 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Port Ludlow’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.1% of homes (±4.6) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 6.9 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 44%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 74%

Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Port Ludlow’s 6.9 sits above most of its state (80% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Port Ludlow’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Port Ludlow’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port Ludlow’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCarpenters who built Admiralty Hall, Po…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Port Ludlow came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Port Ludlow.

Read it all →

The United States Exploring Expedition, under Charles Wilkes, entered Puget Sound in 1841. Wilkes bestowed many patriotically American place names; at the time the sovereignty of the Oregon Country was yet to be resolved between Britain and the United States. Many of Wilkes's names commemorated American heroes and victories during the War of 1812. Port Ludlow was one of these, honoring Augustus Ludlow, a War of 1812 American naval hero.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Port Ludlow, 1857 to 1965

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Port Ludlow post office opens
  3. 1889In the archiveCarpenters who built Admiralty Hall, Port Ludlow, probably 1889
  4. 1894In the archiveTheater set for the Ancient Order of Hercules, Port Ludlow, Washington, March 17, 1894
  5. 1899Born hereArchie Binns is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archiveSeattle and the Orient 95A
  8. 1909BuiltHans Swanson House is built
  9. 1937On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1965Post officeThe Port Ludlow post office closes
By decade

Port Ludlow, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s4 items
Carpenters who built Admiralty Hall, Port Ludlow, probably 1889c. 1889Carpenters who built Admiralty Hall, Port Ludlow, pro…Theater set for the Ancient Order of Hercules, Port Ludlow, Washington, March 17, 18941894Theater set for the Ancient Order of Hercules, Port L…Theater set for the Ancient Order of Hercules, Port Ludlow, Washington, March 17, 18941894Theater set for the Ancient Order of Hercules, Port L…Seattle and the Orient 95A1900Seattle and the Orient 95A
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Ensign's Ensign2015Ensign's EnsignTotem Pole2009Totem PoleSunrise over the Cascades2005Sunrise over the Cascades
On the map

Port Ludlow on the map, 1937 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Port Ludlow. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Port Ludlow on the 1937 USGS mapPort Ludlow on the 1940 USGS mapPort Ludlow on the 1953 USGS mapPort Ludlow on the 1973 USGS map1937Port Gamble sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Port Ludlow.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Carpenters who built Admiralty Hall, Port Ludlow, probably 1889
Retake this viewCarpenters who built Admiralty Hall, Port Ludlow, probably 1889, c. 1889

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Port Ludlow’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Port Ludlow

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Hans Swanson House
Hans Swanson House, built 1909Christian Congregation Church of Port Ludlow
Buildings
Hans Swanson HouseBuilt 1909
Christian Congregation Church of Port LudlowBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Port Ludlow, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00020002020Peak: 2,959

Between 1,968 and 2,959 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Port Ludlow’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Port Ludlow had its own post office from 1857 to 1965.

Port Ludlow
1857–1965
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beaver ValleySwansonville

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hansville1 historic placeC

Questions about Port Ludlow’s history

What year was Port Ludlow founded?

The Port Ludlow post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Port Ludlow rank for history?

Port Ludlow is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #76 of 285 in Washington. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Port Ludlow?

Two places: the Hans Swanson House (listed 1983) and the Christian Congregation Church of Port Ludlow (2021).

How old are the homes in Port Ludlow?

5% of Port Ludlow’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1996.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.