Jefferson County Board of Commissioners Special Meeting Monday – Community Conversations
Gardiner Community
by Pat Nebel 'Old Timer'
Don’t blink or you might miss the community of Gardiner, on highway 101, about halfway between Port Townsend and Sequim. The only indication of the community is the private campground, the Wild Birds Unlimited store, the community center and Gardiner Community Church.
Gardiner is in Jefferson County, Washington, listed in the Quilcene phone book, is in the Sequim School District and has a Sequim Zip Code.
Many homes are built along the water to enjoy a view across the mouth of Discovery Bay with Diamond Point on the west, Beckett Point on the east and Protection Island bordering the shipping lanes on the Straight of Juan de Fuca. Beyond, the San Juan Islands are silhouetted against the skyline.
The old school house was purchased by Jefferson County and became the Gardiner Community center. The building has been the center for many local activities like the Garden Club, Rhododendron Grange, North Olympic Council Square dancing, exercise programs, potluck dinners, birthday parties and Christmas programs. Friends and neighbors meet for a 4th of July picnic and get together at the boat ramp over the 3 day President’s Day weekend to help with the Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby.
We still see many small birds, bald eagles and blue herons, Canadian geese, crows, hummingbirds, robins and even a turkey buzzard or two. There are cattle and horses in the fields and until lately a small herd of buffalo. You might even see a coyote out in the middle of the day.
Some things have disappeared like the Gardiner Store and gas station and Post Office; Lobo Land and the howling of wolves at sundown; the train that went thru from Port Townsend to Port Angeles and it’s whistle in the middle of the night; people earning their living by cutting and hauling pulpwood or picking brush or digging clams and going fishing for cod fish and actually coming home with some for dinner.
Gardiner, for all it’s differences, it is still a nice place to live.
Gardiner is in Jefferson County, Washington, listed in the Quilcene phone book, is in the Sequim School District and has a Sequim Zip Code.
Many homes are built along the water to enjoy a view across the mouth of Discovery Bay with Diamond Point on the west, Beckett Point on the east and Protection Island bordering the shipping lanes on the Straight of Juan de Fuca. Beyond, the San Juan Islands are silhouetted against the skyline.
The old school house was purchased by Jefferson County and became the Gardiner Community center. The building has been the center for many local activities like the Garden Club, Rhododendron Grange, North Olympic Council Square dancing, exercise programs, potluck dinners, birthday parties and Christmas programs. Friends and neighbors meet for a 4th of July picnic and get together at the boat ramp over the 3 day President’s Day weekend to help with the Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby.
We still see many small birds, bald eagles and blue herons, Canadian geese, crows, hummingbirds, robins and even a turkey buzzard or two. There are cattle and horses in the fields and until lately a small herd of buffalo. You might even see a coyote out in the middle of the day.
Some things have disappeared like the Gardiner Store and gas station and Post Office; Lobo Land and the howling of wolves at sundown; the train that went thru from Port Townsend to Port Angeles and it’s whistle in the middle of the night; people earning their living by cutting and hauling pulpwood or picking brush or digging clams and going fishing for cod fish and actually coming home with some for dinner.
Gardiner, for all it’s differences, it is still a nice place to live.
Make sure and checkout the Planning menu item for information on the plans that Gardiner has for its future.
Last Updated 02/05/2023