Seabeck is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Kitsap County Kitsap County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, Washington, Port Orchard; its ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, United States. The population was 1,105 at the 2010 census. Seabeck is a former

mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more List of types of mill#Manufacturing facilities, mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe ...

Hood Canal Hood Canal is a fjord-like body of water that lies south of Admiralty Inlet in Washington State that some consider to be the western lobe and one of the five main basins of Puget Sound.Twana ''/ɬqábaqʷ/'', from ''/ɬ-/'', "far", ''/qab/'', "smooth, calm", and ''/-aqʷ/'', "water". In his narrative of his voyage down the Hood Canal in 1792, Captain

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

made no mention of the Seabeck area. The first known use of the place name "Seabeck" dates from the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

of 1838 to 1842. On May 16, 1841, Captain

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and List of explorers, explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 ...

of the expedition ordered Lieutenant Augustus Case to take four boats and survey the Hood Canal. Wilkes wrote of the strait:

Hoods Canal branches off from Admiralty Inlet at Suquamish Head, where it is two miles wide. Its direction is south-southeast, five miles; it then turns to the south-southwest, six miles; thence to Squaller's Point, southeast, six miles, turning again to the west-southwest, three miles to Nukolowap Point, south point to Toandons Peninsula, which divides the north branch from the canal. Continuing on this course across the mouth of the north branch, for four miles, is Quatsap Point, passing the harbor and point of Scabock ic.Harbor on the east then southwest, three miles to Triton Head ...

History

Seabeck was founded in 1856 by Marshall Blinn and William Adams, doing business as the Washington Mill Company. Their lumber was in such demand they built a second mill, then a

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

to build boats to haul the lumber to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, which had high demand due to the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

. Eventually, along with four saloons, the town had two general stores and two hotels. In 1876, there were over 400 people living in Seabeck. After decades of success, in the 1880s the demand had eased, and most of the easily accessible trees had been harvested. In August 1886 a spark from the ship ''Retriever'' started a fire that consumed both mills, along with other buildings. Rumors flew that the mills would not be re-built, so most residents moved to other towns with mills, notably Port Hadlock, turning Seabeck into a virtual

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

. In 1914, the old townsite was purchased by Laurence Colman and revived as a retreat for Puget Sound's

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

clubs, and eventually all non-profit groups. Several surviving buildings from the 1850s-60s were refurbished and today form the campus of the Seabeck Conference Center. Seabeck is a mostly rural area, consisting primarily of the conference center across the road and lagoon from the general store, coffee shop, antique store, a pizza parlor and Olympic View Marina. There are houses and a now-demolished elementary school that served the areas around Seabeck. The population was 1,105 at the 2010 census. Seabeck is the hometown of figure skater Ashley Wagner.

Shipbuilding

Under the direction of William J. Adams, the Washington Mill Company undertook the role of a shipyard, constructing vessels for a brief period of time in the late 1800s. In total, the Washington Mill Company is responsible for creating at least seven vessels of varying type within the city of Seabeck.

Constructed ships

* ''Georgia –'' 1872, steamer * ''Cassandra Adams'' – 1876, sail * ''Richard Holyoke'' – 1877, tug * ''Olympus'' – 1879, sail * ''Mary Winkleman'' – 1881, sail * ''Retriever'' – 1881, sail * ''Louise –'' 1884, steamer Seabeck-Conference-Center-entrance-19-Aug-2017

Seabeck-Conference-Center-entrance-19-Aug-2017

Geography

Seabeck is in western Kitsap County, along the southeastern shore of

Hood Canal Hood Canal is a fjord-like body of water that lies south of Admiralty Inlet in Washington State that some consider to be the western lobe and one of the five main basins of Puget Sound.Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard ...

. The village of Seabeck is in the center of the Seabeck CDP, which extends east to Big Beef Creek and west to Stavis Bay. Scenic Beach State Park is in the western part of the CDP. Lake William Symington is directly south, a few kilometers away from the southern boundaries of the city. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the Seabeck CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 21.85%, are water.

Notable places

Seabeck Conference Center

In the early 1900s, Laurence Colman and Arn Allen of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

formed a partnership to build a facility for

and

groups to hold summer conferences. In 1914, Lawrence Coleman and his brother George purchased much of the original Seabeck site. In 1936, Laurence Colman's son, Ken Colman, incorporated the conference grounds as a private, nonprofit corporation. He deeded to the corporation the that now make up Seabeck Conference Center. The center is available for events during the year. For over thirty years, the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind has held its annual retreat there, hosting deaf-blind visitors from across the nation and world.

Seabeck Elementary

The town's primary school, Seabeck Elementary, offered kindergarten through sixth grade. It had a long and locally significant history and thus was supported by the community. The school closed at the end of the 2006-07 school year. Demolition of the old school building started in autumn of 2019, and is planned to become the new location of the area's fire department. The school gym, which was built separate from the school in 1990, will remain standing. The field and track will also remain open, and both are available for use and open to community recreation. In 2021 the newly formed Seabeck Community Center began operations on the site, using the renovated school-gym building, and featuring a farmers' market during the summer months.

Seabeck Cemetery

The Seabeck Cemetery lies in the woods of Seabeck near the elementary school. It is a popular attraction among locals due to its antiquity that is only locally challenged by the Buena Vista Cemetery in Port Gamble.

Scenic Beach State Park

The Scenic Beach State Park in the western part of the CDP began as the Emel family's homesite in 1911. The site became a resort, then a state park, offering areas for visitors to boat, camp, or picnic.

Guillemot Cove Nature Reserve

The Kitsap County Guillemot Cove Nature Reserve is southwest of Seabeck and was the property of the Reynolds family from 1939 to 1993. The area is open to the public. Attractions include a hollowed-out stump of a red cedar, referred to as the Stump House.

Notable residents

* Ashley Wagner (born 1991), figure skater

References

External links

*
Seabeck Conference Center
{{authority control Census-designated places in Kitsap County, Washington Census-designated places in Washington (state) Company towns in Washington (state)