Port Townsend Historical Sites

Name: Bishop Block
Year Built: 1891
Location: 714 Washington St.
Area: Downtown Port Townsend

William Bishop, a British sailor who jumped ship in 1853 to homestead in the Chimicum Valley, became a leading builder in Port Townsend. He and architect Charles Packard built this commercial structure which has been home to a cigar store, tavern, garage and furniture store. Remoldelling in the early 1980's provided the businesses offices on the lower floors while the second and third stories provided spacious suites enjoyed by guests.

William Bishop and his British Navy companion, William Eldridge, abandoned ship near Victoria during the Crimean War. They paid a Native American 50 cents to row them across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Dungeness Spit. From there they hiked to Port Townsend. Here they met early settler Loren Hastings, who hired them to work on his farm near the site of the present Port Townsend Golf Course. They later took up a claim along the Chimacum Creek and in May 1857 bought Glendale Farm in Chimacum.

Bishop first married Sally, a Native American woman, by whom he had three children. He later married Hannah (or Anna) Hutchinson and had four more children. He established a cheese and dairy business and sold his produce in Port Townsend, making the day-long trip by horse and wagon. In 1877, his accounting books show he had sold 6,881 pounds of butter. He was the first farmer in the area to grow hops.

In 1889 Bishop retired to Port Townsend, where he became a leading Port Townsend builder. He and architect Charles Packard built this commercial structure, which, in its varied history, has housed a cigar store (see the "Owl Cigars" sign, still remaining on the side of the building), a tavern, a garage, a furniture store, and more recently a hotel.
The Finnies bought the building in June 1995 and are still working on restorations. The interior reflects the Victorian period, with antique furniture and glass, paintings and flowers.

In the entry, notice the two original black-and-white photos of 1890 Port Townsend hanging on either side of the entry. The office enclosure at the top of the stairs came from the James and Hastings building, when it was the German Consulate. The English Tudor claw-foot table at the top of the stairs was bought locally, as were most of the period pieces.
Common areas

The layout and interior design and decoration of the second and third floor common areas are designed to encourage guests to wander freely through the building and feel at home. Note the four settees harvested from the Elks temple in the Washington Territory, in the early 1900s.

The Finnies are in process of adding additional English antiques, reproductions of period art, and Victorian lighting fixtures to enhance the sense of period.

The third floor common area will be transformed into a music room/library, ultimately to contain much of the black-and-white art that hangs throughout the building. Local artists, musicians, writers, and historians will be invited to display their work and to visit and use the room.