Walking Tours
JCHS offers a variety of immersive ways to walk or wheel your way through local history year-round. From summer seasonal downtown walking tours to historic history hikes, JCHS has touring options for all ages and abilities. Learn more about our variety of guided and self-guided tours below.
LEGENDS + LORE: HALLOWEEKEND Edition
merging local lore with festive fun
Special tours: FRI 11/1 + SAT 11/2
Special Halloween-themed edition of our Legends + Lore guided downtown walking tour on Friday at 5PM and Saturday 11AM, with limited space available.
This is a ticketed event; get tickets here.
Historic Downtown Walking Tours
Saturdays in July + August
Vanishing Murals of Port Townsend
Public Tours: Closed for the Season!
Explore the echoes of Port Townsend’s vibrant past through its “ghost murals.” Once prevalent across America, these large, colorful advertisements painted on buildings showcased everything from automobiles to everyday essentials. JCHS’s tour highlights these historical gems that still mark the downtown district, offering a vivid window into the town’s bustling 19th-century life.
Guests will gain insights into the era’s businesses, architecture, and advertising artistry, bringing these silent storytellers to life and deepening appreciation for Port Townsend’s rich visual heritage.
Legends and Lore of Port Townsend
Public Tours: Closed for the Season!
Dive into the intriguing history of Port Townsend’s earlier years, anchored around popular stories of lore, each paired with historical investigation illuminating how we know what we know – and what may always remain a mystery.
In the late 19th century, Port Townsend was one of the busiest seaports on the West Coast, bustling with sailors, immigrants, mercantiles, saloons, factories, hotels, and brothels. Drawing from some of the more infamous, mysterious, and salacious stories in Port Townsend’s history, this fun and analytical tour through the picturesque downtown district will offer participants a glimpse into how we discern fact from fiction.
Public Tours
Offered Saturdays in July + August
Group size: 2-12
Rates (per person)
Members – $15
General Public – $20
Private Tours
Available Year-Round
Group size: 2-12
Rates
$240 per tour for General Public
$180 for Individual, Household, and Supporter Members
$120 for Director Circle Members
Know Before You Go
All tours are outdoors and ADA accessible
Distance/terrain
0.7 mile, mostly flat
Duration
~75 minutes
Self-Guided Historic Tours
Looking for a new route for your daily walks? Are you visiting and curious about the architecture, landscape, or cultural history of Port Townsend? Check out these self-guided tour options! We carry print booklets for these self-guided tours in our Museum Shop at the Jefferson Museum of Art & History and digital resources can be purchased or accessed below.
Historic Architecture
This downtown tour highlights 24 notable sites, including the Hastings Building, the Rose Theatre, and the Haller Fountain
Point Hudson
