Waterman Community, Port Orchard, WA

Waterman Community, Port Orchard, WA

Read about the history of the Waterman Community in Port Orchard, WA, its Pier and the Old School House.

Farming and Logging

Though largely residential today, in the 1890s the Waterman community had logging operations, a store, a brick and tile manufacturer, and numerous farms. Logging began in 1882, when Delos Waterman (ca. 1828-1895) bought 302 acres of government land. In the absence of roads or railroads connecting the area to mill towns, Waterman used oxen to drag logs to the waterfront, from which he floated log rafts to the mill.

In 1888 Waterman sold his land to William Bremer (1863-1910), from Bremerton across Port Orchard Bay, who sold lots to settlers. John Noreus built Port Orchard Brick and Tile on the waterfront. A couple of bunkhouses, a dock, a store, and a saloon soon followed. A number of farmers planted fruit tree orchards and ran chicken farms.

Residents of the Waterman area had to row their own boats or flag down passing steamers to carry farm produce to markets or to travel between the area's towns and Seattle. Irma Wright Henderson, whose father owned a chicken farm at Waterman around 1900, remembered that when steamers stopped near Waterman, "Any livestock was just dumped overboard to swim ashore as best they could".

Connection By Steamer

In 1899 a float was placed in a nearby cove so that Mosquito Fleet steamers, a fleet of steamships operated by various transportation companies that carried passengers and freight between towns on Puget Sound and Hood Canal, could pick up passengers at Waterman.

The steamer connection drew more settlers to the area and by 1903 the community had daily service to Bremerton, Silverdale, and Seattle. In 1903 Frank Sandell (b. 1865), a farmer, organized the formation of the Orchard Beach Improvement Company to build a dock at Waterman. It was built where the Port of Waterman dock stands today, on Beach Drive E. The dock made daily service possible between Bremerton, Silverdale, and Seattle.

Forming a Public Port

In the early 1920s, the costs associated with running and maintaining the dock grew too large for the Orchard Beach Improvement Company. John Opdal (1879-1940), a Waterman-area chicken farmer who would have relied on the steamers to get his eggs and chickens to markets, spearheaded the effort to form a public port district. The Port District Act of 1911 allowed communities to form port districts, which could levy taxes and develop port facilities.

Port of Waterman

On December 8, 1923, the Port of Waterman, located northeast of Port Orchard on the Kitsap Peninsula, is formed. Community members proposed the port district to take over a dock owned by the Orchard Beach Improvement Company. Served by Mosquito Fleet steamers that connected towns around Puget Sound, the dock allows passengers and freight access to Seattle, Bremerton, Silverdale, and Bainbridge Island routes. After World War II, increasing numbers of automobiles and bus service will draw passengers away from the steamers and the dock will become a popular local fishing pier.

New Waterman Pier

I had the pleasure to spend time recently in the Waterman area of Port Orchard when I listed and sold a home nearby. If you follow Beach Dr E from Port Orchard toward Manchester you will find Waterman Pier. You won't find a town or shops or parks in Waterman, but the neighborhood takes pride in their beach and public pier. 

Prior to Dec 2015, you would have seen a 90-year old wooden pier that had deteriorated to the point it was closed to the public for safety concerns. 

Here is a video from 2010 of a man from Auburn that came to the dock for Squid fishing and shows a good view of the original pier.

By Dec 2015 it had been removed and erection of a new steel pier with 30 pilings had been completed, replacing 56 decaying wooden piles. The pier is the same length as before at 230-feet long with a large square pad at the end. The structure is reinforced with aluminum trusses and composite gratings. 

The entire pier is surround by railings so it's not a place to launch boats from, but to fish salmon and harvest squid, rock crab and enjoy the scenery and even includes slots for even wheelchair bound people to fish and view. It's a great place to watch the ferries go by.

A stairway leads to the public-owned beach area which will allow a closer look at marine life near the sea wall.

The parking area has also been redone to eliminate the sink holes and paved.

Read the article Port of Waterman's new pier is a source of pride to learn more about the State and Port funding and people involved with the project.







Robert Zollna used his drone in May 2016 to capture a video of the sunset at Waterman Pier and get a view of the water and ferry going by.

Waterman Community Center, 5785 Hillcrest Road E

The Waterman building is a 104-year-old former schoolhouse in Port Orchard. The Waterman was built in 1912 and served as a schoolhouse until 1946 when it was closed. For several years, the white-washed building sat empty until a group of local residents purchased it from the South Kitsap School District for $1 by descendants of the original Swedish settlers in the area. The group helps preserve the old school for use for the surrounding community.

Since 1949, the building has been the home of the Associated Clubs of Waterman, as well as an all-purpose venue for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, karate and dance studio. The club's goal is to preserve the building. Because it doesn't bring in a lot of annual revenue, the club relies on the community to fund projects. In 2014 the center got a new roof, upcoming projects include the installation of front steps in addition to general maintenance.

The Waterman club and the Community Center is a pretty important part of our community that not a lot of people know about. The Waterman club has about 20 members. The building is located next to the Elim Lutheran Church.