The Strategic Move of a Custom House
Congress orders the transfer of the Port of Entry for Puget Sound from Port Townsend to Port Angeles, sparking local political controversy.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Congress, on yesterday, removed the port of entry for the Puget Sound district from its unfortunate, temporary location at Port Townsend, to the splendid harbor of Port Angeles. It has almost a national reputation since Gen. Scott praised it so highly during his sojourn there, while engaged in settling the San Juan Island difficulty. The new port of entry is directly opposite the British city of Victoria, commands the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and will very materially enhance the safety and settlement of the already large commerce of those waters. Port Angeles is the point which Gen. I. I. Stevens was in the habit of referring to in his speeches as the 'Cherbourg of America.' The strenuous opposition of Col. Wallace, the present Delegate, to the change, was based upon a petition from members of the Territorial Legislature, who had been persuaded to ask for large Federal expenditures at the old port of entry. Congress very properly refused to regard the question from the standpoint of these local politicians, and decided upon the change on its merits, as a commercial and revenue necessity.
“Port Angeles is the point which Gen. I. I. Stevens was in the habit of referring to in his speeches as the 'Cherbourg of America.'”
The relocation of the Port of Entry sparked a fierce 1862 rivalry between Port Townsend and Port Angeles that echoes the ongoing competition between Puget Sound's coastal cities for infrastructure and regional dominance today.
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