The question of local history asked in this column on May 18 concerned businesses named the Harbor Inn. The building at 3111 Harborview Dr. in Gig Harbor was for years known as the Harbor Inn. But it was not the first such business in Gig Harbor with that name. The question is:
Where is the location of Gig Harbor’s previous Harbor Inn?
Several good clues and one useless clue were provided, the good ones being that the building still exists today, is in excellent condition, and operated as the Harbor Inn in the 1920s
Answer: The second house up from the bottom of Peacock Hill Avenue, on the right.
The Peacock Hill version of the Harbor Inn was a well-established family home converted into a boarding house in 1921, but also served as a sort of hotel for very short-term stays. The hotel aspect of the business took advantage of the traffic using the Pierce County ferry landing at the bottom of Peacock Hill Avenue, just 500 or so feet down the hill.
The Pierce County ferry landing moved to the other end of the harbor in 1923, and a private ferry service that docked at the head of the bay didn’t last much longer…