Your picture in the Nov. 23, 2016 issue of The Leader of the Kah Tai Lagoon and newly constructed Boat Haven, taken in 1965, prompted me to write this history of its expansion.
In 1965 two of us formed the Boulton and West Logging and Contracting Company. Our first job was for the Port of Port Townsend.
We were asked by Julian Oen of Quilcene, who was the ort manager, if we wanted to submit a bid to clear the beach south of the existing port and east of the Kai Tai lagoon in preparation for expanding the port. We did and we won the contract.
At that time the lagoon came over to Sims Way (Hwy 20) on the west side of the highway and mostly vacant land with a couple of ponds to the east over to the beach.
Our job was to clear all the debris from the beach. We had the month of March 1965 to complete the job.
The logs we thought might make pulpwood were riddled with holes that contained the shells of Toredo worms, making them unsuitable for pulp, so we had to burn them with the rest of the debris.
In the north end toward then-Deleo’s Lumber, now motels, were several shacks to get rid of. And, on the beach in this area were chips about 2 feet deep that had been blowing off barges for years from the paper mill. When we tried to burn them we just made a big smudge. We then went to Julian with our problem and he said to leave them and they would just pump them with the sand.
So this is what they did: filled the ponds on the east side of Highway 20 and a fair amount of the lagoon on the west side.
The poplar trees lining the highway all died because of the salt in the sand. The trees there now were planted three or so years later.
This addition to the port has provided the area with one of the larger boatyards on Puget Sound, employing many people and providing room for many private marine businesses, adding greatly to our local economy.
Henery Hardware, McDonald’s, Safeway and the Park and Ride are all on land created by this venture with the Kai Tai Lagoon still existing, though reduced in size.
I am curious if we were to attempt to do this today if it would even get off the ground given the negative public interest in providing new businesses in this area.
John G. Boulton
Port Townsend
