Kitsap History Museum

09/05/2026

We are happy to feature Kitsap Cancer Services in our Community Case this month! Drop in and learn more about their resources, events, and opportunities!

Thrilled to share this display in the Community Case at Kitsap History Museum.

Inside the case, chalkboards share powerful words from recipients of our Compassionate Care Grants - stories and reflections that remind us of the difference compassion can make in our community.

As the saying goes: “We cannot change the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” ⛵

Come see the display in person, Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.– 4 p.m., and find inspiration in stories from the past and the voices of those navigating life’s changing winds.

09/05/2026

**Legends of the Roundtable**
The Kitsap History Museum and Kitsap Athletic Roundtable continue to celebrate Legends from the Roundtable in our series highlighting inductees to the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame.

After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, Dee Molenaar attended the University of Washington where he earned a degree in geology and lettered in track. The allure of Mount Rainier called and he went on to climb the peak more than 50 times. He worked at Mount Rainier National Park as a park ranger and mountain guide and authored numerous books, including The Challenge of Rainier, considered the definitive work on the climbing history of Mount Rainer.

Dee was an accomplished artist and cartographer and went on major mountaineering expeditions around the world. These included joining Bobby Kennedy on the first ascent of Mount Kennedy, named after his late brother, President John F. Kennedy, in Canada’s Saint Elias range.

Dee and his wife Colleen lived on seven acres in Port Orchard for several years where they raised their children. He went on to pursue a career as a geologist, retiring from the National Geological Survey’s Water Resources Division in Tacoma. He was inducted into the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. He passed away in 2020 at the age of 101.

Check out our History UnCorked program with Chuck Stark and Noah Garguile from Kitsap Athletic Roundtable that took place May 28 at the museum, now available to view on YouTube at https://youtu.be/x7RiDN-H1v0at .

Learn about the Kitsap Athletic Roundtable and check out the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame inductees at kitsapathleticroundtable.org .

09/03/2026

Join us for An Afternoon with Tim Ryan & Family!

Hear stories from Tim Ryan and members of the Ryan family about family, business, community, and the experiences that have shaped Kitsap County. Get to know the people behind some of Kitsap’s best-known businesses and organizations and the connections they’ve built here over the years.

Moderated by Kitsap Sun editor David Nelson, this special conversation brings together several generations of a family with deep roots in our community.
Get your tickets: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/anafternoonwithtimryanfamily/event/aawdhabjc

08/28/2026

Before the stampede, the Kitsap County Fair had this! The first official Kitsap County Fair was held in Port Orchard in 1923. This 1929 photo shows the popular Auto Polo game, where participants raced around the arena chasing a large ball on carts made from cut-down automobile chassis. 

The fairgrounds were located at the top of Sidney Hill near the courthouse and operated there until about 1930 when it was moved to Bremerton to provide a more central location. The fair moved to the current location in Central Valley in 1958. 

The fair runs until Sunday! Stop by and see us in our Rural Heritage barn!

08/28/2026

Come visit us in our Rural Heritage building and explore Kitsap County’s rural past! It’s packed with vintage farming and logging equipment, tools, artifacts.

Stop by, say hi, and discover a little Kitsap history while you’re at the Fair!

08/28/2026

**Legends of the Roundtable**
The Kitsap History Museum and Kitsap Athletic Roundtable continue to celebrate Legends from the Roundtable in our series highlighting inductees to the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame.

Harlan Thompson’s love for drag racing started when he returned from Vietnam in 1969. The North Kitsap graduate built a 1957 Corvette and started his career at Bremerton Raceway in 1970. The next year he toured the Northwest in a Funny Car while attending the University of Washington.

In 1972, he started competing up and down the East Coast, which put him on the racing map. He was hired by some of the top teams. In 1980, he joined a Swedish team, Tre Kronor, and raced in Europe. He won his first race and didn’t lose for almost a year, setting records at multiple tracks.

In over 30 years of racing, Thompson won seven championships and was the first Funny Car driver in Europe with a sub-six-second pass (5.95 in 1985 at Mantwerp Park). He was inducted into the European Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2005, the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2011, and the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

Check out our History UnCorked program with Chuck Stark and Noah Garguile from Kitsap Athletic Roundtable that took place May 28 at the museum, now available to view on YouTube at https://youtu.be/x7RiDN-H1v0at .

Learn about the Kitsap Athletic Roundtable and check out the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame inductees at www.kitsapathleticroundtable.org .

08/27/2026

Found this sweet letter sitting on our IBM Selectric typewriter that is part of our Threads of the Sixties Exhibit. Come down and try it for yourself and take a walk into the 60s!

08/20/2026

**Legends of the Roundtable**
The Kitsap History Museum and Kitsap Athletic Roundtable continue to celebrate Legends from the Roundtable in our series highlighting inductees to the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame.

The famed Suquamish baseball team was selected to travel to Japan in 1921, at the invitation of the Spalding Sporting Goods that was looking to showcase local talent against Japanese collegiate squads on a two-month barnstorming tour. The team is pictured here in Japan.

Getting to Japan entailed an over 4,000-mile, two-week voyage across the Pacific Ocean. The team played games throughout the country as goodwill ambassadors before crowds of 35,000 to 50,0000, according to reports in the Kitsap Sun.

Pitcher Louie George wowed the Japanese with his signature pitch — the "clam ball" — and the team accomplished an 18-3-1 record. Suquamish was renowned for its early baseball teams and later fielded a slow-pitch team that won the National Indian Slow-Pitch Tournament in 1984. The Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame recognition in 2011 honored all of Suquamish’s past diamond history.

Check out our History UnCorked program with Chuck Stark and Noah Garguile from Kitsap Athletic Roundtable that took place May 28 at the museum, now available to view on YouTube at https://youtu.be/x7RiDN-H1v0at .

Learn about the Kitsap Athletic Roundtable and check out the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame inductees at kitsapathleticroundtable.org .

08/19/2026

During World War II, two very different American communities found their own ways to support the war effort. In Bremerton, thousands of workers kept the Pacific Fleet repaired and ready. In North Platte, Nebraska, local volunteers met troop trains with food, coffee, and a little taste of home.

Join Ann Bonner and Lori Bier for the August edition of History UnCorked as they share the stories of these two communities, and the people whose work, generosity, and determination made a difference during WWII.
Admission is free, register at: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/historyuncorked/event/hisuncfanfunothpacnorcop/

08/08/2026

**Legends of the Roundtable**
The Kitsap History Museum and Kitsap Athletic Roundtable continue to celebrate Legends from the Roundtable in our series highlighting inductees to the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame.

Tara (Kirk) Sell was born in Bremerton and inducted into the Kitsap Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2004, she and her sister Dana became the first siblings to ever swim at the same Olympics. Tara won a silver medal at those 2004 Athens Games as a member of the 400-medley relay preliminary team. She won four straight National Collegiate Athletic Association championships in the 100-yard breaststroke and was an eight-time NCAA All-American. She also held American and World records.

Tara was a four-time national champion in the 50- and 100-yard breaststroke races and a three-time medalist at the 2007 FINA World Championships, a gold medalist in the 100-meter breaststroke at both the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championship and World Championships, and a two-time medalist at the 2005 World Championships.

She excelled out of the pool as well. She was a Rhodes Scholar finalist and awarded the 2004 Honda-Broderick Cup, recognizing the nation’s outstanding collegiate female athlete. She went on to a prestigious career in public health.

Check out our History UnCorked program with Chuck Stark and Noah Garguile from Kitsap Athletic Roundtable that took place May 28 at the museum, now available to view on YouTube at https://youtu.be/x7RiDN-H1v0at .