- Kitsap County — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
Kitsap County, named after a military leader of the Suquamish Tribe, occupies the northern end of the Kitsap Peninsula between Hood Canal and Admiralty Strait. Loggers cleared the dense forests and fed sprawling mills and thriving company towns. Even before the mills went out of business, the U.S. Navy founded the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, which became the centerpiece of the county’s economy and the largest single employer…
- Port Orchard, located in south Kitsap County, was platted as Sidney in 1886 by Frederick Stevens, who wanted to name the future town after his father, Sidney Merrill Stevens. He chose a site on the southern shore of the Sinclair Inlet, part of Port Orchard Bay. Sidney quickly became became known for its lumber industry, pottery works, small businesses, and agricultural opportunities…