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https://web.kitsapsun.com/archive/1997/02-09/0032_gorst.html

Michael Wagar — Feb 9th, 1997

Story by Michael Wagar

Photos by Steve Zugschwerdt

Sun Staff

Loathsome Gorst. People call the town that sits at the head of Sinclair Inlet the armpit of Kitsap County.

Sewage problems have prompted the health department to declare Gorst a "severe health hazard." The county's only strip club, The Main Stage, makes its home in Gorst. Picturesque Sinclair Inlet is polluted with heavy metals. Shellfish harvesting is banned due to contamination. A four-lane highway runs through the center of the small town.

Gorst residents have a different perspective.

"That armpit stuff might be public perception, but how many of them have really lived here?" said Gene Olson, an artist who lives in a small house along Gorst Creek with his wife Judith. "I think it's a great place to live. It's peaceful and quiet."

Judith Olson said most people never stop in Gorst. They drive through. They don't see the homes hidden from view of the highway.

The Olsons are listening to Norwegian jazz music. Outside, Gorst Creek, with thick, moss-covered trees lining the banks, flows by. Across the street is Jarstad Park, home of one of the largest salmon runs on the peninsula. A few miles up the road sits Gold Mountain Golf Course, rated one of the top 10 public courses built in 1996. (An additional 18 holes were added last year.)

Gorst definitely has its upside.

"There's an external view of Gorst based on misconceptions that doesn't necessarily hold true," Gene Olson said.

Walter "Bud" Lillybridge, 76, smiled at the thought of a community profile of Gorst. Lillybridge has been in Gorst since the 1950s, when he owned Bud's Mobile gas station. Back then a two-lane road ran through the small town. When Lillybridge shut down his gas station in 1959, he had the building moved about a half-mile north and inland. Today the station is his home. It is surrounded by tall evergreen trees. He wouldn't live anywhere else.

Lillybridge said not much has changed in Gorst. The biggest difference from when he worked at his gas station is the traffic. He estimated traffic 40 years ago was one-fifth what it is now.

Today, many roads lead through Gorst. The Belfair Highway (Highway 3) is a major link to Hood Canal. Cars driving from Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Port Orchard must pass through the Gorst bottleneck to get to Bremerton. A traffic jam occurs every weekday afternoon when workers from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard clock out.

Not surprisingly, Gorst has had a long relationship with transportation. Gorst was named after the brothers Samuel and John Gorst and their offspring.

John Gorst settled on 60 acres of land at the head of Sinclair Inlet in 1888. Samuel bought 160 acres of land from the Port Blakely Mill Company on the north side of Gorst Creek in 1895. The brothers set up a logging operation.

John Gorst's son, Vergne C. Gorst, born in 1876, spent his life searching for faster modes of transportation. He joined the rush for gold in the Yukon in the late 1890s. In Alaska he hauled supplies with a dog sled team. After the gold rush he returned to Kitsap County and ran a ferry service between Port Orchard, Bremerton and Manette.

In 1913, Vergne bought an airplane and taught himself to fly. In 1920 he flew passengers between Bremerton and Seattle for as little as $2. He won the first air mail contract to fly mail between Seattle and Los Angeles in 1926. He eventually formed Pacific Transport. In 1931, the firm merged with two other companies to form United Air Lines, today known as United Airlines.

Another famous Gorst citizen was photographer Edward Curtis. His father Johnson Curtis moved to the area in 1887. Ed Curtis was fascinated with both the camera and the Native Americans living in the area. During a 30-year period, he took more than 50,000 photos of Native Americans. A limited edition of his photos and accompanying text captured in 20 thick volumes sold for $3,500 in 1908. Four copies of Curtis' volumes are still available in the Northwest at the Tacoma and Seattle public libraries, the University of Washington and the Rainier Club.

Today Gorst has settled into a familiar, bustling routine along the two highways. About 200 students attend medical, dental and pharmaceutical assistant school at Eton Technical Institute. There are several businesses, including gas stations, a muffler shop, car and mobile home outlets, a flower shop, gun store and cafe.

At the Wig Wam Tavern, PSNS workers stop for beers in the afternoon. Some have been coming to the Wig Wam since the mid-1960s. Out of about 25 customers sipping beer one afternoon last week, not one lived in Gorst.

Next door at Packrat's Toy Box, owner Dan Kimball runs an antique and collectibles store. He bought the entire building for $40,000. He said it was the best deal he could find for a store in a high-traffic area. In the back, Larry Manius owns a small pawn shop. He lives in Belfair.

"Nobody who works in Gorst lives in Gorst," Manius said. "Ask anybody working at any of the businesses."

Gorst is an eyesore and joke to many people driving through. There is more to the town, however, than the sights from the highway. For some, Gorst is the best deal to be found and the best town around.

CHEERS: From left, Tim Fowler of Port Orchard, Mike Moyer of Olalla, Garry Goode of Gig Harbor, James Dillon of Sunnyslope and Al Lewis of Belfair relax after work at the Wig Wam Tavern hidden behind the metal salvage yard just off Highway 3 in Gorst.

SEEN SOME CHANGES: Helen and Walter Lillybridge have lived in Gorst for 40 years. Their home was a gas station before Lillybridge closed it down in 1959 and moved it half a mile to a new site.

GORST ENTREPRENEURS: Dan Kimball, left, owner of an antique and collectibles shop, Packrat's Toy Box, talks to Larry Manius, who runs a small pawn shop in the same building.

PASSING THROUGH: Gorst, located where highways 16 and 3 meet, is perhaps the busiest traffic area in all of Kitsap County.