[1][3] Port Townsend is located at the northeastern tip of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, and developed beginning about 1850 as a strategically placed well-sheltered deep-harbor port at the junction of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Admiralty Inlet, which provide access to Puget Sound.

The downtown area saw a major building boom beginning the late 1880s, when local businessmen developed prospects for a rail link connecting the city to Portland, Oregon.

It is estimated that enough housing was built to support a population of 20,000, an optimistic target that the city has never reached.

They were, in essence, preserved as time capsules for the next 100 years until the value of keeping them intact was appreciated and fostered.

In addition to the courthouse, there are several good commercial examples of the Richardsonian Romanesque style that became popular around that time.