Worthington Mansion

Heading westward and homeward after leaving my sister’s house, I decided to take the scenic route home. What with a warm(ish) and sunny(ish) day, I had tossed my camera in the backseat and thought I’d stop at the Worthington Mansion and Park in Quilcene. Built in 1892, it’s the only remaining house of its age and style in rural Jefferson County.

A Brief History. The 17-room, three story house was built by Quilcene town founder, Millard Fillmore Hamilton. Unfortunately for the Hamilton family, his business operations were caught in the Panic of 1893 brought about by railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing, resulting in a series of bank failures. Hamilton lost his newly constructed house and property to creditors. The house was eventually purchased by Hamilton’s one-time business competitor, William J. Worthington, in 1907. Eileen Worthington, the daughter-in-law of William J. Worthington, offered a two-year purchase option to buy Worthington Mansion, historic barn, several outbuildings, and ten acres to the Quilcene Historical Museum, which they did in 2013.

Restoration of the mansion is an ongoing process.

Hamilton-Worthington House, c. 1895. Photo courtesy of Quilcene Historical Museum.

The barn, built in 1915.

The house wasn’t open to the public when I visited, so I used my old standby of pressing my camera up against the windows.

I strolled around the 10-acre park, which boasts an interpretive trail, access to the Little Quilcene River, and a large pond, which had a red-winged blackbird singing his heart out, and a trio of ring-neck ducks.