Today we visit Bremerton, Washington, where my wife was born. The photos are: 1) a clock by the Transit Center, 2) an aircraft carrier heading out to sea, and 3) Port Washington Narrows viewed from Evergreen park.Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 37,259 at the 2000 census. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap. Bremerton is connected to downtown Seattle by a 60-minute ferry ride, which carries both vehicles and walk-on passengers.
1890s
Bremerton was platted by German immigrant-turned-Seattle entrepreneur William Bremer in 1891. Three years earlier, a U.S. Navy commission determined that Point Turner, between the protected waters of Sinclair and Dyes inlets, would be the best site in the Pacific Northwest on which to establish a shipyard. Recognizing the large number of workers such a facility would employ, Bremer and his business partner, Henry Hensel, purchased the then-undeveloped land near Point Turner at the inflated price of $200 per acre. In April 1891, Bremer sold 190 acres (0.77 km²) to the Navy at $50 per acre. This land became part of the initial footprint of the Puget Sound Navy Yard.
1900-1930
Bremerton was officially incorporated on October 15, 1901 with Alvyn Croxton serving as the city's first mayor. Progress in the new city soon faced a major crisis, as Navy Secretary Charles Darling moved all repair work to the Mare Island Navy Yard in California in November 1902. Darling cited reports from commanders that the Bremerton waterfront was rife with prostitution, opium houses and frequent strongarmed robberies of sailors. Politics were probably also at play, as local newspapers reported that the city's incorporation left the shipyard essentially landlocked without room to expand. A dispute ensued between Mayor Croxton, who wanted to shutter all saloons in Bremerton, and three members of the city council, who attempted to block his efforts. Croxton eventually won out and the council voted to revoke all liquor licenses in June 1904. With the ban, Darling reestablished the navy yard as a port of call. Saloons had begun to return to business within two years, however.
In 1908, the city library and Union High School were established to serve the educational needs of the 2,993 residents recorded in the 1910 U.S. Census. During World War I, submarine construction and the addition of a third drydock caused the shipyard's workforce to balloon to over 4,000 employees. Growth due to the war effort and the 1918 annexation of the city of Manette, east of Bremerton on the Port Washington Narrows, can be seen in the 1920 census, which reported a population of 8,918. Bremerton absorbed Charleston, its neighboring city to the south in 1927. Population reached 10,170 in 1930.
1930s
Manette was linked to Bremerton by the Manette Bridge, a 1,573-foot (479 m) bridge constructed in June 1930. Prior to this time, the trip could only be made by ferry or a long trip around Dyes Inlet through Chico, Silverdale and Tracyton on mostly unimproved roads. This wooden bridge was replaced with the present concrete and steel version in October 1949. At the shipyard, the 250-foot (76 m) tall Hammerhead Crane No. 28 was completed in April 1933. One of the nation's largest, it is capable of lifting 250 tons and continues to dominate the Bremerton skyline.
Bremerton was platted by German immigrant-turned-Seattle entrepreneur William Bremer in 1891. Three years earlier, a U.S. Navy commission determined that Point Turner, between the protected waters of Sinclair and Dyes inlets, would be the best site in the Pacific Northwest on which to establish a shipyard. Recognizing the large number of workers such a facility would employ, Bremer and his business partner, Henry Hensel, purchased the then-undeveloped land near Point Turner at the inflated price of $200 per acre. In April 1891, Bremer sold 190 acres (0.77 km²) to the Navy at $50 per acre. This land became part of the initial footprint of the Puget Sound Navy Yard.
1900-1930
Bremerton was officially incorporated on October 15, 1901 with Alvyn Croxton serving as the city's first mayor. Progress in the new city soon faced a major crisis, as Navy Secretary Charles Darling moved all repair work to the Mare Island Navy Yard in California in November 1902. Darling cited reports from commanders that the Bremerton waterfront was rife with prostitution, opium houses and frequent strongarmed robberies of sailors. Politics were probably also at play, as local newspapers reported that the city's incorporation left the shipyard essentially landlocked without room to expand. A dispute ensued between Mayor Croxton, who wanted to shutter all saloons in Bremerton, and three members of the city council, who attempted to block his efforts. Croxton eventually won out and the council voted to revoke all liquor licenses in June 1904. With the ban, Darling reestablished the navy yard as a port of call. Saloons had begun to return to business within two years, however.
In 1908, the city library and Union High School were established to serve the educational needs of the 2,993 residents recorded in the 1910 U.S. Census. During World War I, submarine construction and the addition of a third drydock caused the shipyard's workforce to balloon to over 4,000 employees. Growth due to the war effort and the 1918 annexation of the city of Manette, east of Bremerton on the Port Washington Narrows, can be seen in the 1920 census, which reported a population of 8,918. Bremerton absorbed Charleston, its neighboring city to the south in 1927. Population reached 10,170 in 1930.
1930s
Manette was linked to Bremerton by the Manette Bridge, a 1,573-foot (479 m) bridge constructed in June 1930. Prior to this time, the trip could only be made by ferry or a long trip around Dyes Inlet through Chico, Silverdale and Tracyton on mostly unimproved roads. This wooden bridge was replaced with the present concrete and steel version in October 1949. At the shipyard, the 250-foot (76 m) tall Hammerhead Crane No. 28 was completed in April 1933. One of the nation's largest, it is capable of lifting 250 tons and continues to dominate the Bremerton skyline.
1940s
At the peak of World War II, the Bremerton area was home to an estimated 80,000 residents due to the heavy workload of shipbuilding, repair and maintenance required for the Pacific war effort. Most of the relocation was temporary, though, and only 27,678 citizens were left in the city by 1950. During the 1940s, presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman both visited Bremerton. Roosevelt made a campaign stop at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in August 1944, giving a national radio address in front of a backdrop of civilian workers. During the course of his 35-minute speech, it is believed the president suffered an angina attack, experiencing severe chest and shoulder pain. An electrocardiogram was immediately administered once he left the podium but it showed nothing abnormal. President Truman took a two-day tour of Washington state in 1948, speaking from the balcony of the Elks Club on the morning of June 10. Local legend has it that a man in the large Pacific Avenue crowd yelled the infamous "Give 'em hell, Harry" line for the first time. This is a matter of dispute, however, as local newspapers quoted the man as having shouted "Lay it on, Harry."
With the return of World War II GIs to the homefront, the need for post-secondary education became evident to officials of the Bremerton School District. Olympic Junior College (now Olympic College), a two-year institution, opened its doors to 575 students in the Fall of 1946. Initially, it operated in the former Lincoln School building, gradually moving operations to World War II-surplus quonset buildings at its current 16th & Chester site. About 100 students received associate's degrees at the first commencement exercises held June 10, 1948. President Truman was in attendance and received the college's first honorary degree. Operation of the college transferred from the school district to the State of Washington in 1967.
1950-1970
On the whole, the 1950s and 1960s were a period of stability for the city. A second high school opened in 1954 and two comprehensive high schools operated in the city until 1978. Growth in East Bremerton necessitated the construction of another span across the Port Washington Narrows in 1958. The $5.3 million, four-lane Warren Avenue Bridge allowed for increased traffic on State Highway 21-B (now State Route 303).
The battleship USS Missouri, site of the Japanese surrender treaty signing that ended World War II, was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at PSNS in 1955. For 30 years, she served as the city's primary tourist attraction. Hundreds of thousands of visitors walked the "surrender deck," before the ship was recommissioned in 1985.
Population growth was flat with 26,681 enumerated in the 1960 census, leading Bremerton leaders to annex the shipyard the following year in an effort to include stationed sailors in those figures. While the Vietnam War spawned protests and sit-ins on the Olympic College campus, the city was relatively free of civil disorder during the 1960s.
On the whole, the 1950s and 1960s were a period of stability for the city. A second high school opened in 1954 and two comprehensive high schools operated in the city until 1978. Growth in East Bremerton necessitated the construction of another span across the Port Washington Narrows in 1958. The $5.3 million, four-lane Warren Avenue Bridge allowed for increased traffic on State Highway 21-B (now State Route 303).
The battleship USS Missouri, site of the Japanese surrender treaty signing that ended World War II, was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at PSNS in 1955. For 30 years, she served as the city's primary tourist attraction. Hundreds of thousands of visitors walked the "surrender deck," before the ship was recommissioned in 1985.
Population growth was flat with 26,681 enumerated in the 1960 census, leading Bremerton leaders to annex the shipyard the following year in an effort to include stationed sailors in those figures. While the Vietnam War spawned protests and sit-ins on the Olympic College campus, the city was relatively free of civil disorder during the 1960s.
1970s
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 closer to Silverdale and farther from the Bremerton downtown core. Numerous failed proposals were made at redevelopment beginning in the early 1970s, including discussions of a waterfront hotel and the erection of a large canopy over the central business district. Meanwhile, most of the city's office and retail space remained in the hands of Edward Bremer, son of William Bremer and the sole remaining heir to his wealth. (In order to receive their inheritance, William Bremer's three children were honor-bound to never marry.) Bremer began to neglect his properties, never increasing decades-old lease rates and failing to make necessary maintenance upgrades. In 1978, the Bremerton City Council passed an ordinance declaring the entire downtown a "blighted area."
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 closer to Silverdale and farther from the Bremerton downtown core. Numerous failed proposals were made at redevelopment beginning in the early 1970s, including discussions of a waterfront hotel and the erection of a large canopy over the central business district. Meanwhile, most of the city's office and retail space remained in the hands of Edward Bremer, son of William Bremer and the sole remaining heir to his wealth. (In order to receive their inheritance, William Bremer's three children were honor-bound to never marry.) Bremer began to neglect his properties, never increasing decades-old lease rates and failing to make necessary maintenance upgrades. In 1978, the Bremerton City Council passed an ordinance declaring the entire downtown a "blighted area."
1980s
In 1985, Safeco-subsidiary Winmar Corporation developed the Kitsap Mall in Silverdale. With lower taxes and minimal planning regulations in the unincorporated town, Silverdale achieved virtually unfettered growth. Sears, J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, Nordstrom Place Two, Woolworth and Rite Aid all closed their downtown Bremerton stores in the 1980s and '90s. Upon the death of Edward Bremer in 1987, the Bremer properties were placed under the complete control of a trust held by Olympic College. Not being in the real-estate business, the college did not actively market its holdings and the downtown was composed almost entirely of very large empty storefronts.
In 1985, Safeco-subsidiary Winmar Corporation developed the Kitsap Mall in Silverdale. With lower taxes and minimal planning regulations in the unincorporated town, Silverdale achieved virtually unfettered growth. Sears, J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, Nordstrom Place Two, Woolworth and Rite Aid all closed their downtown Bremerton stores in the 1980s and '90s. Upon the death of Edward Bremer in 1987, the Bremer properties were placed under the complete control of a trust held by Olympic College. Not being in the real-estate business, the college did not actively market its holdings and the downtown was composed almost entirely of very large empty storefronts.
1990-Present
In recent years Bremerton has seen its share of community setbacks. Like many other West Coast cities, Bremerton was also not immune to the influx of street gangs, methamphetamine and violent crime, including a 1993 incident in which a crowd of nearly 40 gang members surrounded a Bremerton police officer's patrol car. A police dog was shot and killed after only three months on the city's force in 2001 -- his replacement was forcibly drowned by a fleeing suspect in 2004. Bremerton school teachers were pitted against their district's administration for nearly a month in September 1994 during a contentious strike. Four elderly residents were killed in an enormous three-alarm fire that destroyed the 165-unit Kona Village apartment complex in November 1997. Damages were estimated at $7.5 million. A replacement senior apartment building has since been built.
Despite a hard-fought battle throughout the Mid-1990s by local politicians to have the decommissioned USS Missouri stay in Bremerton as a museum ship and tourist attraction, the Secretary of the Navy awarded the ship to Honolulu, HI in 1998. It now sits near the USS Arizona memorial.
Beginning with the construction of a waterfront boardwalk in 1992, Bremerton has begun the process of revitalizing its downtown. That same year, the Bremerton Historic Ships Association opened the destroyer USS Turner Joy (DD-951) to public tours at an adjacent dock; the ship had played a major role in the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident that sparked full U.S. engagement in the Vietnam War. This was followed in 2000 by the opening of a nearby multimodal bus-ferry terminal and a hotel-conference center complex in 2004. The high-rise Norm Dicks Government Center also opened that year, housing City Hall and other government offices.
In recent years Bremerton has seen its share of community setbacks. Like many other West Coast cities, Bremerton was also not immune to the influx of street gangs, methamphetamine and violent crime, including a 1993 incident in which a crowd of nearly 40 gang members surrounded a Bremerton police officer's patrol car. A police dog was shot and killed after only three months on the city's force in 2001 -- his replacement was forcibly drowned by a fleeing suspect in 2004. Bremerton school teachers were pitted against their district's administration for nearly a month in September 1994 during a contentious strike. Four elderly residents were killed in an enormous three-alarm fire that destroyed the 165-unit Kona Village apartment complex in November 1997. Damages were estimated at $7.5 million. A replacement senior apartment building has since been built.
Despite a hard-fought battle throughout the Mid-1990s by local politicians to have the decommissioned USS Missouri stay in Bremerton as a museum ship and tourist attraction, the Secretary of the Navy awarded the ship to Honolulu, HI in 1998. It now sits near the USS Arizona memorial.
Beginning with the construction of a waterfront boardwalk in 1992, Bremerton has begun the process of revitalizing its downtown. That same year, the Bremerton Historic Ships Association opened the destroyer USS Turner Joy (DD-951) to public tours at an adjacent dock; the ship had played a major role in the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident that sparked full U.S. engagement in the Vietnam War. This was followed in 2000 by the opening of a nearby multimodal bus-ferry terminal and a hotel-conference center complex in 2004. The high-rise Norm Dicks Government Center also opened that year, housing City Hall and other government offices.
Today's Jumble (8/12/08):
ZAWLT = WALTZ; HYDUC = DUCHY; INDAGE = GAINED; SIMREY = MISERY
CIRCLED LETTERS = LTDHEDMIE
Where you can find the most fish.
"(IN) THE MIDDLE"
Today is Middle Child's Day (gives recognition to the often overlooked middle child of the family). Also, since IBM is in the puzzle today (Big Blue), they introduced their personal computer in 1981. Finally, it is Vinyl Record Day.
Other things on this day in history:
30 BC - Cleopatra commits suicide after her lover Mark Antony's defeat at the battle of Actium.
1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid forces under Al-Afdal Shahanshah. Considered the last engagement of the First Crusade.
1121 - Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David the Builder won a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.
1164 - Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.
1281 - The fleet of Qubilai Khan is destroyed by a typhoon while approaching Japan.
1323 - Treaty of Nöteborg - Sweden and Novgorod (Russia) regulates the border for the first time.
1332 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Dupplin Moor - Scots under Domhnall II, Earl of Mar routed by Edward Balliol.
1480 - Battle of Otranto - Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam.
1499 - First act of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets.
1676 - Praying Indian John Alderman shot and killed Metacomet the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War.
1687 - Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottomans at the Battle of Mohács.
1793 - The Rhône department was created when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire was split into two departments: Rhône and Loire (Lêre).
1806 - Santiago de Liniers re-takes the city of Buenos Aires after the first British invasion.
1833 - Chicago is founded.
1851 - Isaac Singer granted a patent for his sewing machine.
1877 - Asaph Hall discovers Deimos.
1883 - The last quagga dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.
1898 - Armistice ends the Spanish-American War.
1898 - The Hawaiian flag is lowered from Iolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony and replaced with the American flag to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawai`i to the United States.
1908 - First Model T Ford built.
1914 - World War I - Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary; countries of the British Empire are also included.
1925 - The first cast of Alpha Psi Omega, drawn from The Masquers of Fairmont College, West Virginia, was initiated.
1943 - Alleged date of the first Philadelphia Experiment test on United States Navy ship USS Eldridge.
1944 - Waffen SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
1944 - Alençon liberated by General Leclerc, the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces.
1952 - The Night of the Murdered Poets - Thirteen most prominent Jewish intellectuals were murdered in Moscow.
1953 - Nuclear testing: The Soviet atomic bomb project continues with the detonation of Joe 4, the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon.
1960 - Echo I, the first communications satellite, launched.
1964 - South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.
1964 - Charlie Wilson, one of the Great Train Robbers escapes from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, England.
1969 - Battle of the Bogside, Catholic community of Derry engage in two-day battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary
1977 - The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
1978 - Japan and the People's Republic of China sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China.
1980 - Signing of the Montevideo Treaty, which established the Latin American Integration Association.
1981 - The IBM Personal Computer is released.
1982 - Mexico announces it is unable to pay its enormous external debt, marking the beginning of a debt crisis that spread to all of Latin America and the Third World.
1985 - Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes into Mount Ogura in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, killing 520. It is the worst single-plane air disaster.
1990 - Sue, the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex, is discovered near Faith, South Dakota.
1992 - Canada, Mexico, and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
1994 - Major League Baseball players go on strike. The work stoppage forces the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.
2000 - The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy exploded and sank in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.
2004 - New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey comes out publicly as a gay man.
2005 - Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, is fatally shot by an LTTE sniper at his home.
2005 - An F2 tornado strikes the coal mining town of Wright, Wyoming, destroying nearly 100 homes and killing two people.
2005 - Civil unrest provoked in the Maldives
2005 - An F1 tornado strikes Glen Cove, New York, a rare event on Long Island
2007 - Bulk carrier M/V New Flame collides with oil tanker Torm Gertrud at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar, ending up partially submerged.
1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid forces under Al-Afdal Shahanshah. Considered the last engagement of the First Crusade.
1121 - Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David the Builder won a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.
1164 - Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.
1281 - The fleet of Qubilai Khan is destroyed by a typhoon while approaching Japan.
1323 - Treaty of Nöteborg - Sweden and Novgorod (Russia) regulates the border for the first time.
1332 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Dupplin Moor - Scots under Domhnall II, Earl of Mar routed by Edward Balliol.
1480 - Battle of Otranto - Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam.
1499 - First act of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets.
1676 - Praying Indian John Alderman shot and killed Metacomet the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War.
1687 - Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottomans at the Battle of Mohács.
1793 - The Rhône department was created when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire was split into two departments: Rhône and Loire (Lêre).
1806 - Santiago de Liniers re-takes the city of Buenos Aires after the first British invasion.
1833 - Chicago is founded.
1851 - Isaac Singer granted a patent for his sewing machine.
1877 - Asaph Hall discovers Deimos.
1883 - The last quagga dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.
1898 - Armistice ends the Spanish-American War.
1898 - The Hawaiian flag is lowered from Iolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony and replaced with the American flag to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawai`i to the United States.
1908 - First Model T Ford built.
1914 - World War I - Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary; countries of the British Empire are also included.
1925 - The first cast of Alpha Psi Omega, drawn from The Masquers of Fairmont College, West Virginia, was initiated.
1943 - Alleged date of the first Philadelphia Experiment test on United States Navy ship USS Eldridge.
1944 - Waffen SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
1944 - Alençon liberated by General Leclerc, the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces.
1952 - The Night of the Murdered Poets - Thirteen most prominent Jewish intellectuals were murdered in Moscow.
1953 - Nuclear testing: The Soviet atomic bomb project continues with the detonation of Joe 4, the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon.
1960 - Echo I, the first communications satellite, launched.
1964 - South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.
1964 - Charlie Wilson, one of the Great Train Robbers escapes from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, England.
1969 - Battle of the Bogside, Catholic community of Derry engage in two-day battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary
1977 - The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
1978 - Japan and the People's Republic of China sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China.
1980 - Signing of the Montevideo Treaty, which established the Latin American Integration Association.
1981 - The IBM Personal Computer is released.
1982 - Mexico announces it is unable to pay its enormous external debt, marking the beginning of a debt crisis that spread to all of Latin America and the Third World.
1985 - Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes into Mount Ogura in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, killing 520. It is the worst single-plane air disaster.
1990 - Sue, the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex, is discovered near Faith, South Dakota.
1992 - Canada, Mexico, and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
1994 - Major League Baseball players go on strike. The work stoppage forces the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.
2000 - The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy exploded and sank in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.
2004 - New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey comes out publicly as a gay man.
2005 - Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, is fatally shot by an LTTE sniper at his home.
2005 - An F2 tornado strikes the coal mining town of Wright, Wyoming, destroying nearly 100 homes and killing two people.
2005 - Civil unrest provoked in the Maldives
2005 - An F1 tornado strikes Glen Cove, New York, a rare event on Long Island
2007 - Bulk carrier M/V New Flame collides with oil tanker Torm Gertrud at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar, ending up partially submerged.
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