Sea and land together rhyming,
Sweet poets untaught singing,
Nature's God to me is ringing.
Rapture chiming,
Grandeur smiling,
At Poulsbo Bay.
On a sunny slope slowly rising from the merry sheet of golden water, stands the town of Poulsbo, in Kitsap county, about twenty-five miles northwest from Seattle. A smiling tongue of the Sound is rippling into the land, and here and there a green nose is pushing itself into the brine as trying to contest with the elements of the deep. Sweet melodies spring from the laughing ripples, and sail on the wings of lazy zephyrs to cheer the ears of the village. This musical bay is a natural abode for Scandinavians who are wont to the songs of happy fjords. As early as 1875, Ole Stubb stranded his skiff on the shore of this vocal stretch for permanent nestling. He was born in Norway, and has witnessed days of divers struggles, interlaced with days of sunshine.
A year later Fred Landstone pinned his lot to a piece of land about ten miles east of Poulsbo, and in 1883 Jorgen Eliason was attracted to the bay, and has ever since been instrumental in shaping the affairs of the community. He is a native of Norway, landed in Michigan, 1870, and has proved himself a man of honor and intellectual capacity, a true representative of Norse simplicity and manhood. I. B. Moe arrived simultaneously and has been a potent factor in a multitude of enterprises.
Torge Jensen, a prominent citizen of Poulsbo, a man of integrity and intelligence, was a member of the early brigade of pioneers. He was born in Norway and came to Poulsbo from South Dakota. He has been one of the foremost men to look after the interest of the place, educationally and otherwise.