Poulsbo Washington Historical Information

Poulsbo Washington, unknown to many people was originally a Norwegian settlement, established in the 1880's, which was home to many Scandinavian people, but primarily the Norwegians.

It was settled because the area, cold and snowy in the wintertime and lush and green in the summertime, reminded the immigrants who traveled there, of their homes in Norway, which they had left to find greater freedom and greater economical security for their families.

Poulsbo was originally named after Paulsbo Norway, however a mistake made in the spelling when the application for postal center was made for Poulsbo, made the name officially Poulsbo, which was incorporated in 1907.

The language of this small Norway in the U.S. was officially Norwegian, with very little English spoken until after world war two, when the armed forces of the Us established a housing unit there to offer housing to ship builders on nearby Puget Sound.

The area tripled in size in just three years, and English, due to the diversity of the newcomers, became the primary language of the area.