The first European settlers arrived in the Dungeness Valley in the 1850s. While the lands along Sequim’s Dungeness River became fertile farmlands, the remainder of the area remained arid prairie. Irrigation canals first brought water to the prairie in the 1890s, allowing the expansion of farmlands. For many decades small farms, mostly dairy farms, dotted the area around the town. In recent years, the City has dramatically increased in population and draws many retirees.
The first railroad in Port Angeles, build by Ismael Filion, has a home-built locomotive that ran on wood rails.
The first passenger train trip from Port Angeles to Sequim was in September 1915. Later in 1916, the train continued to Port Townsend, where a boat would take passengers to Seattle or other destinations.
The first locomotive owned by Sequim Logging Company was unloaded from a barge on the west side of Sequim Bay and “walked” down the road to the company’s railroad in Blyn. The train depot in Sequim opened in 1916, and was in use until 1967, when it was destroyed to put in the Sequim Avenue entrance from the bypass.
There was a major logging camp and railroad shop located between McCleay Hall and Cays Road.
The railroad was built into Sequim from the west. The Milwaukee had already built from Port Angeles to Majestic and served the line from a barge slip in Port Angeles. The line from Majestic to Twin was built a little later. Non of the railroads in Clallam and Jefferson Counties were directly connected to the rail system in the rest of the U.S. They were all served by railcar barges or car floats.
The last regular passenger run ended on April 1, 1931. The trains stopped running in 1985. The railroad rails and ties were removed in 1989.
Until 1931, there was no road around Hood Canal, and the main way to get to Seattle was to take the train to Port Townsend and then the ferry to Seattle. It would take 4-4-1/2 hours to travel from Port Angeles to Seattle at a cost of $2.25.
The train was run by the tide instead of the clock. It was necessary to have high tide to run the freight cars from the track to specially made barges for the trip to Seattle. When the ferry from a Port Townsend-Seattle run was moved to a Port Ludlow-Edmonds run, passenger service ended. The trains continued to run freight cars.
(from the Sequim Museum and the Hauff Collection as run on placemats for the 2010 Sequim Irrigation Festival)
Click here for an essay about Sequim’s history.
Recently we got a question about the spelling of Sequim as “Sequin”. Historically the name has always been “Sequim”. Anything else would be a typo in reference to this area. (see: http://sequimgazette.com/
Through the years, the Sequim News, published by the City of Sequim, has run some interesting historical tidbits. Click here to read: Sequim Historical Tidbits.