Our Purpose:

The Port Hadlock Tri-Area Chamber of Commerce is organized to advance the general welfare and prosperity of the Port Hadlock, Chimacum and Irondale areas of their citizens and businesses so that all areas of its business community shall prosper. All necessary means of promotion shall be provided and particular attention and emphasis shall be given to the economic, civic, commercial, cultural, industrial and educational interests of the area.

History:

Samuel Hadlock, the founder of Port Hadlock, moved west in the 1850s, finally landing in the Port Hadlock area in 1886 after contracting with the Washington Mill Company to build a sawmill for them in Port Hadlock.

Old Port hadlockOn the waterfront near the mill was a general store, post office, barber shop, livery stable, laundry, two hotels and two saloons. The saloons were frequented by sailors from all over the world as well as local mill workers, long-shoremen and loggers. There was little law enforcement and it was life in the Wild West.

The residential section was in upper Hadlock with all the businesses on the waterfront, as was common during that era. The sawmill ceased operation in 1907 and burned to the ground in 1913.

In 1909 construction started on the alcohol plant, and when it was completed in 1910 began manufacturing wood alcohol from sawdust. The operational costs of this venture proved too costly and the plan suspended operation about 1913. Today the ancient buildings house The Alcohol Plant Resort which includes a hotel, restaurant and marina.

Subsequent industries have included a boat building yard, a clam cannery, and a fish fertilizer plant. In 1946 Melvin Kively established the first businesses at the Hadlock intersection a second hand store and a Signal Service Station.