This Gothic-Revival style farmhouse was built in 1861 by Captain Elijah H. McAlmond (1825-1919), and is the oldest frame residence in Clallam County. At the time, it was considered one of the finest houses in all of the Puget Sound area. It is the only house still standing from the early settlement of New Dungeness.
The house was built by ships carpenters from Massachusetts in approximately 1861, with construction materials transported by boat from the mills on the Columbia River, then barged ashore and hauled by oxen teams to the building site. Built with lumber, and plastered inside, the house was a far cry from the houses in the area, mostly built of logs with clapboard roofs and clay fireplaces.
The application for inclusion in the National Historic Register, submitted in 1976, states that the house was in bad shape.
The McAlmond House is in a deteriorating condition due to a complete lack of maintenance over a period of many years. One side porch has nearly fallen to ruins, and the veranda is missing posts and sections of the balustrade. The clapboards on the south end of the building were badly charred in a fire and it is now covered by composition siding. The foundation brickwork is spalling off and much of the mortar has eroded to a depth of nearly half the mortar joint in places.
Since then, the owners have done an amazing job restoring the house.
Town of Dungeness as seen from water, Dungeness, Washington, 1905; water and driftwood in foreground; buildings of Dungeness on rise above shore; McAlmond home on left. Photo from the North Olympic Heritage — Bert Kellogg Photograph Collection.
McAlmond House in 1925. Photo from the North Olympic Heritage — Bert Kellogg Photograph Collection.
The deteriorating McAlmond House in 1976. Photo from the application to the National Register of Historic Places form.
New Dungeness, Dungeness, Sequim … what’s with the town name?
Back in 1792, English sea captain George Vancouver named the area New Dungeness because it reminded him of the English harbor. Protected by the Dungeness Spit, ocean-going ships sailed into Dungeness Bay to take on lumber and provisions from the growing settlement there. New Dungeness became the Clallam County seat.
In 1890, the county seat was moved to Port Angeles, and when New Dungeness residents argued against the transfer, a mounted posse from Port Angeles staged a raid on New Dungeness to capture the records. The records were handed over without incident. (As an ending, I find it leaves a lot to be desired – no tales of derring-do or nefarious deeds.)
Eventually, the bay started filling in, becoming so shallow that ships became stranded at low tide. The town up and moved a mile and half to the east in 1891 to the mouth of the Dungeness River, and became Dungeness. The old town of New Dungeness disappeared and the ares was (and still is) referred to as Old Town.
Plans for a railroad to reach Dungeness failed to materialize, and people and businesses moved 7 miles south to Sequim.
Links of Interest:
- “Nomination Form for McAlmond House”. National Park Service. and accompanying pictures
- Sequim and the Dungeness Valley thumbnail history
Location:
242 Twin View Drive, Sequim, WA 98382