City of Bremerton history

By late 1902 Bremerton had a population of about 1,700, and there were 16 saloons, all within a short walk of the navy's front gate.

Mayor Croxton was quick to respond, issuing a statement on January 1, 1903, that said, in part:

Croxton eventually won out, and the council voted to revoke all liquor licenses in June 1904.

Eagles Hall and Opera House, Bremerton, 1905

Photo: Manette in 1907, courtesy of Kitsap Museum

On the day of his burial, December 30, 1910, Bremerton's businesses closed for two hours in the afternoon and the town's flags were flown at half-mast.

William H. Taft: Taft also visited the shipyard, this time in 1911.

And, of course, the population of Bremerton saw huge temporary spikes of military personnel -- in 1912 the Bremerton YMCA reported that it had been visited by 57,272 enlisted men.

Bremerton Trust & Savings Bank building (Harlan Thomas, 1914), Bremerton

In 1916, a ferry was established between Bremerton and Manette.

By 1918 employment at the yard stood at more than 6,500, most of whom lived on-base and all of whom spent money outside its gates.

Photo: Washington School on Burwell Street built in 1919.

The 1920 census showed that Bremerton's population had almost exactly tripled in 10 years, growing from 2,993 to 8,918.

Destroyers and other ships, Navy Yard Puget Sound, Bremerton, January 11, 1922

The city expanded as the northern home of the United States Pacific Fleet and consolidated with Manette (East Bremerton), annexing Charleston (West Bremerton) in 1927.

In 1928, construction began on the light cruiser USS Louisville, and employment at the naval yard jumped by 1,000, providing additional flotation to the local economy.

In June 1929, just four months before the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression, Bremerton voters passed an $835,000 bond issue to improve the city's water system and to build an electrical plant.

Bremerton was doing well, and in 1937 its incorporated status was upgraded to city of the second class.

By 1940, when the national unemployment rate was still well over 14 percent of the labor force, Bremerton's stood at just 6.9 percent.

Five of America's warships damaged during the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941, were towed or limped under their own power into what was then called Navy Yard Puget Sound for repair.

Roosevelt made a campaign stop at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on August 12, 1944, giving a national radio address in front of a backdrop of civilian workers.

Bremerton is home to Olympic College (1946; two-year) and is a gateway to the recreational areas of the Olympic Peninsula.

About 100 students received associate degrees at the first commencement exercises held June 10, 1948.

The respite was temporary -- when a truce was signed in July 1953, Bremerton entered an extended period of stasis, to be followed three decades later by a steep decline.

Not only has the store seen Bremerton through the decades — it’s been in the same spot since 1955 — but owners James and Joanne Welch have a passion for the city and its history.

The Casad Dam, named for the visionary head of Bremerton public works was completed in 1957, and its Union River headwaters still provide the city’s water supply today.

Benny Getschman, whose husband was a Rotary club officer in the 1960’s.

Years of economic ups and downs had made city leaders quick on their feet, and one of their most ingenious moves was the annexation of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 1961.

In 1962, as the universe converged on Seattle for the Century 21 Exposition — better known as the World’s Fair — Bremerton’s Rotary Club pledged to build a new park as part of a statewide beautification program to compliment the Seattle festivities.

William Brenner's son John, who had managed the family's extensive holdings in downtown Bremerton, died in 1969, and his younger brother, Edward, was a poor manager.

With the 1973 selection of the Bangor Ammunition Depot 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Bremerton as the Pacific home of the new Trident submarine fleet, residential and commercial development began to move north, closer to Silverdale, and farther from the Bremerton downtown core.

In June 1977 the Bremerton city council passed a resolution designating virtually the entire urban core of the city a "blighted area," a first step to obtaining expanded powers for urban renewal under state law, including enhanced powers of eminent domain and taxation.

In 1978, the Bremerton City Council passed an ordinance declaring the entire downtown a “blighted area”.

Photo: USS Missouri on 9/20/1988 in Bremerton.

The Steelheads, it turns out, played some games right here in Bremerton at Roosevelt Field, the site of what is now a parking lot at Olympic College (the field was demolished in 1992). Aside from Seattle, the team also played in Bellingham, Spokane and Tacoma, according to Major League Baseball.

Bill Clinton: In 1993, the former Arkansas governor brought together leaders from Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries on Blake Island.

USS Missouri at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, 1995

Lower Roto Vista park came later, in 1996, Puget Power & Light company, which owned the property on the waterfront by the bridge, decided to hand it over to the city for another pocket park.

"What drove people to Silverdale and out of Bremerton was the parochial attitude of (the late) Bremer brothers (John and Ed), whose father founded Bremerton and who owned most of the property there" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 20, 1998).

But an article in the Sun from 2001, written by Larry Miller, contests that Truman first said it here:

In July 2005, Bremerton's city council passed an ordinance establishing the Bremerton Arts Commission and enacting a "1% For Arts" program which requires all city-funded capital improvements to allocate 1 percent of their construction cost to support public art projects.

Aerial view, Sinclair Inlet (foreround) Bremerton, 2006

The 2.5-acre Harborside Fountain Park opened on May 5, 2007.

Fish component of Fish and Fisherman sculpture (Dillon Works), Bremerton, 2010