The Port Blakely Mill Company had a large lumber mill and company town on Bainbridge Island, across from Seattle. In the early 1880s, the company built a row of almost-identical clapboard cottages for its workers. An 1882 photo shows plain light-colored houses without covered porches or plantings. In photos taken around 1900, the houses have porches with gingerbread millwork. The clapboard is still light but now has darker trim. Picket fences border the yards, and residents have added plants and other personal touches.

This photo, taken around 1909, shows one of the mill houses with a family standing on the steps. Climbing roses shelter the porch of the house and a vine grows over the entryway. From notes on the back of the photo, a family named Simpson may have lived in this house.

Written on verso: Violet Simpson gave this photo to me, June 21, 1909 - Port Blakely.