Checkpoint: Gig Harbor
Welcome to Gig Harbor! This is the name of both a bay on the coast of Puget Sound, as
well as a city on its shore. As many cities and towns do, Gig Harbor claims to be "the gateway to the Olympic Peninsula."
Gig Harbor originally got the name back in 1841. During a storm in 1840, Charles Wilkes brought the captain's gig (which is a small boat) into the harbor for
protection, he would later call this area Gig Harbor when creating the 1841 map of the Oregon Territory. It was officially incorporated in July of 1946. Gig Harbor
was somewhat cut off from the neightboring Tacoma, until 1940, when a bridge was constructed which connected the two towns. This bridge, however, collapsed within a few
months, and due to World War II, a new bridge could not be constructed until 1950. After this happened, Gig Harbor quickly began to develop as a suburb of Tacoma.
Housing developments popped up, and what used to be summer cabins had turned into full-time residences bought by people who would commute into Tacoma every day,
retail stores developed, and the city opted to annex surrounding rural areas, converting them into high-density commercial and housing districts.
Despite the town's history of shipbuilding, it is extremely uncommon in Gig Harbon now. Only one manufacturer of boats remains, Gig Harbor Boatworks. The town also
features a boatyard which had sat idle for years, but was recently purchased by the city, who intends to use it as a working waterfront museum. And while commerical fishing is
still of cultural significance in Gig Harbor, it is of lesser economic importance (all information courtesy of Wikipedia.com
).
Now, while Gig Harbor has abandoned its history as a shipbuilding and fishing town, it has become a tourist attraction for people
travelling to Washington, specifically, the Seattle or Tacoma area. The harbor itself is very picturesque, making the town an enjoyable stop. It has also been the
home of several notable people, including several athletes. Some of these athletes include Tally Hall (pictured left), a goalie in Major League Soccer for ten seasons
(image courtesy of Warrenfish / CC BY-SA),
runner Doris Brown Heritage, former NFL player Cory Procter, NFL player Austin Seferian-Jenkins, golfer Kyle Stanley, and former soccer player Keith Weller. It has also had
several appearances in media. It had a shoutout when the band The Men They Couldn't Hang recorded the song "Grave-Robbing in Gig Harbor" on The Domino Club, and again
in CSI season 12, episode 13, which involves a flashback tracing someone named "the Gig Harbor Killer," a charcter which appears again in season 13, episode 22. Finally,
the 2018 HGTV Dream Home is in Gig Harbor
(information courtesy of Wikipedia.com).
In terms of specific attractions in Gig Harbor, it feautures the Harbor History Museum, which focuses on regional history and culture, a couple breweries, specifically 7 Seas
Brewing and Wet Coast Brewing, several restaurants, including Tides Tavern, Blazing Onion, Moctezuma's Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar, and Massimo Bar and Grille, as well
as a plethora of parks to visit (information courtesy of Vacationidea.com).
So while Gig Harbor may not be as rich with history as some other towns, it definitely warrants visiting, the sheer amount of things to do combined with how
beautiful the town is makes visits worthwhile.
To further explore Gig Harbor, click here
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