ABC Wednesday - P

To finish the last three posts about the Port Townsend Victorian Festival, The Palace Hotel works well for the letter P. The three story building was built in 1889 by Captain Henry L. Tibbals with the bottom floor used as a saloon and billiards parlor with rooms to rent upstairs. Here is an excerpt about Capt. Tibbals from the history page of the Palace Hotel :

Having first gone to sea in 1839 at the age of ten, Captain Tibbals was one of Port Townsend's most colorful residents. During his sea-going years, his more notable exploits included carrying cargo of railroad iron across the Isthmus of Panama and testing the first US. diving bell, using it to retrieve $68,000 in silver from a sunken Spanish frigate in the Gulf of Mexico. Captain Tibbals also had many careers in Port Townsend, serving on the city council and as sheriff, postmaster, and county commissioner. He also built the Union Wharf.

Like so many of today's buildings that survived frontier days in the west, the Palace has its share of colorful history. In the 1920s and '30s it was fondly known by some as "The Palace of Sweets" operating as a hotel and brothel. An early morning raid in the mid-1930s put an end to that period.

And finally, it seems that many Palace Hotels in this country and around the world share a remarkable thread with ghost stories. I have never been one with much interest in things paranormal, but it was on the stairwell of this Palace Hotel many years ago, when going to my room on the third floor, that I sensed a totally unexplainable and memorable cold chill work it's way slowly down my spine. I have stayed there since and, as always, consider it one of the best places in town for lodging because of its location and history.

Be sure to stop by Mrs. Nesbitt's Place for more of ABC Wednesday. It's always an enjoyable visit.