Silverdale

Understand

Silverdale's scenery is characterized by lush, green Pacific Northwest landscapes with waterfront parks on Dyes Inlet, offering views of mountains, especially the Olympics, and access to clear creek trails through wetlands and forests. It combines natural beauty with some historical charm, seen in areas like the old dock and converted buildings. in the east of Silverdale is full of farms and the country side and include places like Brownsville and Illahee State Park.

History

Native American Salish people lived comfortably in the Puget Sound area navigating the local waterways in well made cedar canoes for thousands of years and developed a complex ritualistic society before 1792 when Captain George Vancouver 'discovered' the area, named it after one of his officers and declared the area for Great Britain.

Once the Washington Territory was established in 1853, the U.S. government began signing treaties with area tribes to acquire their lands. The Suquamish people ceded most of their land around the Kitsap Peninsula to the United States.

Loggers first settled in Silverdale in 1854. They expanded their operations into the valleys of Kitsap County, building roads as they went. The area's once impassible thick forests gave way to farms, towns and industry as lumber was shipped off to areas such as San Francisco or burned as fuel. By the 1880s, Scandinavian immigrants were moving into the area seeking work. Timber production opened up large areas of excellent farmland. Dairy, chicken and hog farms abounded even through the middle 20th century. Remnants of its beginnings as an agricultural and timber center can be found at places such as the Old Mill Site on Bucklin Hill Rd.

The town was named in 1878. Settler William Littlewood wanted to name the town Goldendale, but another town bore that name, so he changed the "gold" to "silver".

In the mid 1880s steamer boats known as the Mosquito Fleet began making regular trips to Seattle. By 1900 the sloop "Telka" departed Silverdale for Seattle once a week. While the Silverdale Dock was the center of entertainment and commercial trade well into the 1900s, the community remained a fairly quiet, family-oriented town.

The development of the Trident Submarine Base at Bangor caused a rush of change as more people moved in to the area and businesses moved into the region. Several attempts towards city-hood have been defeated, leaving the community an unincorporated part of the county.

Get in

By car

State Route 3 (WA-3) is the main highway to Silverdale.

• From Poulsbo, take WA-3 south. You can go on Viking Way, which becomes Silverdale Way.

From East Bremerton, take WA-303 north, and when you cross over the Brownsville Hwy intersection, you will enter a short expressway (with exits like Central Valley Blvd, Ridgetop Blvd, etc), and at the end of the expressway is WA-3 interchange. From Seabeck, go on Seabeck Hwy and turn left on NW Anderson Hill Road or Newberry Hill Road, and if you take the Anderson Hill Road cross over Old Frontier Rd/Provost Rd intersection and go straight on the roundabout after going under WA-3; if you chose Newberry Hill Road, go straight and it will change on Silverdale Way NW once you pass Chico Way NW. You can take Tracyton Blvd or Bucklin Hill Road to get there, too.

By ferry

Washington State Ferries connect Kitsap Peninsula to the Seattle metro area. All ferries are for both vehicles and passenger (except the ferry between downtown Seattle and Vashon Island). Connections to buses can be made at all ferry terminals for walk on passengers.

• Bremerton Ferry Terminal (from Downtown Seattle) provides the best access to Silverdale. Lines can get long during the summers and holidays. Try to avoid peak times such as commuting peak hours heading towards Seattle in the mornings and leaving Seattle in the late afternoons. Friday late afternoon and Sunday late afternoon should also be avoided if possible or at least plan on arriving early to avoid congestion.
• Further south, there's Southworth (from West Seattle and Vashon Island)
• Further north, there's Bainbridge Island (from Downtown Seattle) and Kingston (from Edmonds)

By boat

By bus

By plane

The nearest airport is Bremerton National Airport. However, it's only for general aviation. The nearest airport for commercial service is SeaTac Airport, which is a 1-hour drive via WA-16 off I-5.

By airport shuttle

Get around

Most places are on Ridgetop Blvd and Silverdale Way.

By taxi

See and do

Silverdale managed to enter the 21st century with some undeveloped land -- pastures, roaming deer and old-time barns. You can also still find a solitary, tree-lined avenue or a quiet park.

Events

Birdwatching

The Kitsap Audubon Society has been meeting since 1972 and has a broad coalition of birders tracking and sharing sightings since then. They maintain an active website with updates of the latest sightings, suggestions on areas for birders and even a regular newsletter. They also developed a checklist of birds likely to be seen birds in the area.

The state Audubon society developed The Great Audubon Birding Trail which includes key migration flyways. Flyways are major north-south routes of travel for migratory birds and likely areas to see birds along the route extending from Alaska to Patagonia. The Old Mill Park in Silverdale is one of only a handful of areas in the region named to the list.

Go next

• Shelton
• Port Angeles
• Port Gamble looks like it is in the 1940s!