PORT HADLOCK — Todd and Kathleen Knoblock are the recipients of the highest honor of the Jefferson County Historical Society’s historic preservation awards.
They and others will receive awards at a ceremony at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building at 42 Lower Hadlock Road, Port Hadlock.
All awards recipients ware expected to attend; the public is welcome.
The recipients and their awards are:
Mary P. Johnson Award
• Todd and Kathleen Knoblock for repairing and restoring the John Fuge House at 1609 Washington St., Port Townsend.
Certificates of Appreciation
• David Hero for cupola/dome restoration of the Miller/Burkett Building at 237 Taylor St., Port Townsend.
• Community Boat Project and Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding for the restoration of the sailboat Felicity Ann. The restored sailboat will be at the school’s docks for viewing.
• Grave Angels and Masonic Lodge No. 6 for preserving and maintenance Laurel Grove Cemetery and Old Discovery Bay Road — both in Port Townsend.
The awards provide an opportunity to honor individuals and groups who have worked to preserve or restore traditions in Jefferson County, according to a news release.
Structures can include residential, commercial or public buildings.
The awards have been presented annually since 1978.
Details of projects
• The John Fuge House was built by the shipyard owner on the bluff for himself and his wife, Eliza, in 1879. It lacked plumbing and was heated with coal.
In the 1960s the house was converted to an electric baseboard which was also the heating system in 2003 when the Knoblocks bought the home. A modern, propane fueled boiler was installed using vintage radiators.
During the first years of ownership, the Knoblocks concentrated on replacing and upgrading the electrical, plumbing and heating systems. Wallpaper from the ’60s and’ 70s was removed, revealing a thin layer of coal dust that coated the original. Restoration of the plaster walls and assorted corbels and medallions followed.
Another major endeavor was repairing and replicating the faux woodgraining original to the house. Todd, along with fellow craftsman, Guy Hupy, perfected the techniques and applied it to nearly 45 percent of the interior woodwork., the historical society said.
Last year a new roof was installed using cedar shingles and replicating the original ornate details.
• Hero, co-owner of the Silverwater Café building, removed the old roofing of the Cupola and replaced it with copper to extend its life expectancy.
The Miller/ Burkett Building was built in 1889. On the ground level, the building had a grocery and later a drug store. Between 1950 and 1995, it was the ballroom and lounge of the Elks club, which had occupied the upper floors since the building’s construction. Currently, it is home to the Silverwater Café.
The work on the Cupola started in October 2016 and was completed in April 2017.
• Community Boat Project and Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, restored the historic sailboat, the Felicity Ann.
The boat was used in the first solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by a woman, aviator and sailor Ann Davison, in 1952-53. Davison’s 1956 memoir “My Boat is So Small” describes her nautical adventures crossing the ocean in the boat.
The 23-foot double-ender hails from England where the keel was laid in 1939 at the Mashford Bothers Shipyard. The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding restored the boat, and the nonprofit Community Boat Project focused on interior restoration and fitting out the vessel. The boat was launched May 1.
• Grave Angels and Masonic Lodge 6, restored the 11-acre cemetery founded in 1871 on Old Discovery Bay Road after it had fallen into disrepair.
Owned by Port Townsend’s Masonic Lodge 6, the cemetery is the final resting place for members of many historic families — such as Hastings, Eiesenbeis, Rothchild, Pettygrove — as well as Chief Chetzemoka. At least 12 Civil War veterans are interred there, including Thaddeus Stevens Smith, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Clayton and Paula MacDonald of Port Townsend organized the Grave Angels to clean up the cemetery, with financial help from the Masonic Lodge. Volunteers in the group include Diane Peters, Rose Johnson, Hunter and Melanie Newton, Asia Martin, Bruce Miller, Karen Erickson, and Tammie and Erik Altemose.
The awards are named after Mary P. Johnson, who moved to Port Townsend in 1958 and spearheaded efforts to preserve and restore Port Townsend’s Victorian buildings.
Johnson worked at a personal and political level to create her vision for Port Townsend as an historic arts center and was a leading force in cultural, community development, and restoration activities, the historical society said in a news release.
Johnson and her husband, Harry, restored the Bartlett House and the Clapp Building. The Bartlett House was one of the first houses in Port Townsend to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. She also founded the Summer School of the Arts which was a precursor to Centrum
.
For more information, visit www.tinyurl.com/JCHS-awards.
