In 1841, Charles Wilkes was leading the United States Exploring Expedition into the Puget Sound region. He named the area adjacent to a small bay “Port Ludlow,” in honor of Augustus Ludlow, a War of 1812 American naval hero who never set foot in the area. In spite of Wilkes’ later court-martial, the name Port Ludlow continued to stand, and the town now has 2,000 or so active residents, most of whom are retired.

The people of Port Ludlow (PL) join the populations of Port Hadlock, Irondale, Chimacum, Port Townsend, Quilcene and others as a group that depends on the flotation of the Hood Canal Bridge to get home and the rain shadow to stay semi-dry.

The community is not really one of those developed “retirement communities” with a centralized organization putting together parties and tournaments of various colors. Yet, there are several smaller boards with some authority, and the Jefferson County government plays as big a role as any.

The lumber company Pope & Talbot owned most of the land in PL until the 1960s, when it formalized plans for what has become a vital, diverse and prosperous residential community of homes and condominiums. The area includes an 18-hole golf course and a 300-slip, full- service marina.

The story is that Pope & Talbot wanted the area to be a resort destination, and the company built facilities that would be attractive to people coming for conferences or weekends. People came, liked the area, bought lots and built small second homes suitable for family vacations. Then, the folks who had the homes had children, who then grew up and left home, so the parents ended up retiring, downsizing and moving into the vacation cottage. As a result, the town started to look like a retirement destination to other people, the friends and relatives of the original population, and they also came here. The housing boom is on! The permanent population grows, and the houses get bigger, nicer and pricier.

NATURAL ATTRACTION

I did a little informal survey of some people in town to see what brought them here. Although the answers vary somewhat, they tend to point to the local beauty and the potential recreation. Most of the Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader readers will share in the experience of marveling at the sight of the Olympics and the beauty of the canal as we all cross the Hood Canal Bridge.

Port Ludlow itself has more than 20 miles of hiking trails, the aforementioned golf course and marina, and easy access to Olympic National Park.

Bob and Jamie Bima confessed to checking out most of the coastal towns north from California and chose Port Ludlow for its beauty and boating. (There are lots of former Californians in town.)

FAMILY CABINS

There is a small group of residents who have extensive history in the area and may not even know how or why they got here. One family bought a summer cabin in the 1940s, which has been remodeled and expanded significantly to become a nice permanent year-round abode. Port Ludlow Voice managing editor Bev Browne grew up in Edmonds, Washington, so she knew long before retirement about the beauty of the Olympic Peninsula and Port Ludlow. She mentions the golf course as being “very important” to her and husband Bill. She adds that she enjoys the restaurants and galleries in Port Townsend.

Another respondent mentioned access to Costco in Silverdale and Central Market in Poulsbo. (Gee, I think you can get to those places in Kirkland.)

In my case, my wife, BJ, and I came here from Kansas City somewhat because we like our children and their spouses, who settled in Seattle, but mostly because they started having our grandsons. (Right, no granddaughters.) We wanted to be about this far from their homes in Ballard so as to not smother them in their lives, and vice versa. We decided Port Townsend was unnecessarily far and after looking at Bellingham, I sold BJ on the fact that the ferry was more scenic than Interstate 5.

It seems, though, that the primary reason people have come here is because of the easy access to outdoor activities, such as boating, golf and hiking, and being near a group of folks in similar life circumstances. Barb Berthiaume claims it was “blind dumb luck.”

A recent report prepared by the Center for Western Priorities has concluded that the counties with more protected public lands are drawing seniors at a rate of three times that of counties with fewer protected lands. (The Port Ludlow Hiking Club schedules regular sojourns into Olympic National Park.) Another interesting note from the report is that “one-third of the seniors who move within the U.S. are choosing to locate in Western towns and cities creating new jobs in their wake.” So Port Ludlow is a western town with access to protected public lands, with reasonably close shopping and health care plus desirable activities available for retirees. Maybe that is enough said!

VOLUNTEERS

The people in PL volunteer for many organizations, from Saint Vincent de Paul (Bob and Sienna Sowatsky) to the Food Bank (Al and Ginny Smith) to the AARP Tax Aide program (Joe Langjahr, Bill Dean, Karen Jensen, and BJ Luce) to the army of Boeing Bluebills led by Myron Vogt. There is a long list of locals involved in various committees on the Village Council, the Ludlow Maintenance Commission (LMC), in the South Bay Community Association and so on. For example, Jerry Purdy is the chair of the LMC Operations Committee, a member of the LMC Greenbelt Committee and former vice president of the LMC Board of Trustees.

Many people from PL donate much time and treasure to organizations from United Good Neighbors to every church in the county.

These people sing in the Port Ludlow Singers and church choirs, and they play in the Dukes of Dabob band. They play games like pickle ball, tennis and golf. They party for the Super Bowl, Saint Patrick’s Day, Yacht Club Opening Day and birthdays. The list of activities available to residents is long yet not tightly coordinated by any one organization, as in a typical retirement community. The 100 various groups include all manner of interests and skills, from computers to crafts to a writing group coordinated by Milt Lum. (He is making a valiant effort to improve my skills.)

STILL WORKING

Many folks from PL still participate in the economic life of the area beyond managing the Social Security and Medicare payments. I have a friend who runs a Southern California property management firm from home. I have another friend who managed several IBM employees in San Jose from his home here. Several folks actively manage their investments from their home. My friend Pete Leenhouts was executive director of the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock. I am the chief financial officer at The Printery in Port Townsend.

RELEVANT RETIREMENT

I majored in psychology a long time ago, so I am not current, but I think many of us have a need to feel involved and relevant after retirement. We enjoyed our careers and work relationships so much that we may never give up the opportunity to volunteer, play and work. As long as those volunteer, recreation and work opportunities continue to exist, the area will continue to draw retirees interested in being active, contributing citizens.

Folks leave town for reasons more attuned to health and family. They need help in getting things done or they want to be closer to the family. Mike and Judy Blair moved here to be closer to their kids, who have now moved on. They just left for Richland to be closer to their daughter and granddaughters. Our friend Jackie de Glopper moved to Renton to get closer to her daughter.

The net of all this is that Port Ludlow is full of active, committed, giving people, most of whom are retired in some form. The town enthusiastically welcomes younger families for a variety of reasons, but the retirees will probably keep on coming to experience the beauty, the activities and the opportunities to serve.

(Port Ludlow resident Ned Luce writes a weekly column, Life in Ludlow, for the Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader.)