The 20 Best Small Towns in America of 2012
From the Berkshires to the Cascades, we've crunched the numbers and pulled a list some of the most interesting spots around the country
- By Susan Spano and Aviva Shen
- Smithsonian magazine, May 2012
In Gig Harbor, Washington, there’s a whole lot of boating going on—but also gallery-hopping and wine-tasting. (Brian Smale)
Take numerous art galleries. Add sailboats and local wines. Stir. Enjoy.
If you come by boat, as so many people do—beginning with a team of surveyors from the Congressionally mandated Wilkes Expedition in 1841—it’s easy to miss the narrow opening on the ragged west edge of Puget Sound that marks the entrance to Gig Harbor. That would be a pity because it leads to one of the snuggest harbors in the Pacific Northwest, a thicket of sailboat masts rimmed by tall pines on the far side of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. When the sun shines you can see Mount Rainier and the snow-crusted Cascades on the eastern horizon; in squally weather the sky closes in so seascape artists paint from memory. Never mind. As local gallery owner Bill Fogarty would say, “Don’t let the drizzle get you down. Think of what it does for the rhododendrons.”
The unprepossessing little town (pop. 7,200) has lately been discovered by outlanders from Tacoma and Seattle in search of still relatively affordable waterfront property. Chain stores have sprung up out on the highway and old fishing docks have yielded to fancy powerboats and yachts. Day-trippers come for gourmet restaurants with Washington State wines, for nautical tchotchkes and for gallery walks held on the first Saturday of the month, during which one might meet, say, renowned local jeweler Kit Kuhn.
Yet Gig Harbor remains a working fishing village with a fleet of about two dozen boats that head up to Alaska for salmon every summer. The fishing way of life is still passed down from one generation to another. “It sure spoils you for the 9 to 5,” says Guy Hoppen, who has done plenty of salmon seasons in Alaska. He’s the director of the Gig Harbor BoatShop, a former commercial facility in a tight cove bounded by working docks that is now an interpretive center promulgating the art of shipbuilding, partly to make sure salmon boats never get crowded out of the increasingly high-rent harbor. Trained eyes can pick out venerable old fishing vessels like the 1922 Commencement and 1925 Beryl E. among the pleasure boats.
Settled in the 19th century by immigrants from the Adriatic Coast of what is now Croatia, Gig Harbor is a little like Maine without Yankees. The Jerisiches, Dorotiches and other founding families were net fisher folk and ship builders. They stayed close together, founding Gig Harbor’s Roman Catholic St. Nicholas Church, still the starting place for the annual Maritime Gig Festival, highlighted by a blessing of the fleet.
Meanwhile, the peninsula’s forested hinterlands became home to many Scandinavians, who built dairy farms and planted strawberry patches that send their riches to Puget Sound markets.
Gig Harbor was isolated until the building of a bridge across the strait that separates the Olympic Peninsula from Tacoma. Engineered by the same company that gave San Francisco its Golden Gate Bridge, the 5,400-foot span was a wonder when completed in 1940. Thankfully, no one died when it collapsed a scant four months later, leaving Gig Harbor all but water-bound until the completion of a sturdier bridge in 1950, paralleled by another in 2007. You can still see dredged-up chunks of the first bridge’s foundations at the spacious new Harbor History Museum, added to the waterfront in 2010, along with a restored 19th-century one-room schoolhouse, a vintage Thunderbird sailboat hull and exhibitions about languages spoken by Native American Puyallup and Nisqually tribes, the bay’s first residents.
On any given summer weekend there’s likely to be a chowder cook-off, a quilt show or a festival celebrating boats, gardens or wine; vendors at the farmers market offer mandolin lessons along with strawberries and grass-fed beef. The town center is Skansie Brothers Park, where the city is restoring one of 17 historic net sheds that line the waterfront. On open-air film nights folks pile on blankets spread across the lawn to watch Free Willy, Jaws or another maritime classic. -- SS
Read how these towns were selected.
Comments (844)
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Your article said Sausalito was '#12. What happened. Where is the article in this small town?
Posted by Patti frazier on May 11,2013 | 10:04 PM
This town looks perfect! I was wondering if you could send me a pamplet or more info on it. Thank You.
Posted by Rhonda robison on May 11,2013 | 03:44 PM
I must say that, having been born in Butler and still living there, I can't possibly figure out how you people think we rate being on this list. You have obviously never been there. Drug addicts everywhere, dilapidated buildings, crumbling roads and sidewalks, a huge jail right in the middle of downtown, etc. The town is a DUMP!! I live in Butler Township, which surrounds the city, and it is amazing that such a stark constrast can exist between two places so close together. I highly recommend that you do NOT visit Butler! (By the way, the picture for Butler is not an "East side neighborhood", it is called Lyndora, which has its own post office and zip code and is not even part of Butler. Please correct this error.)
Posted by Sam Hoszwa on May 9,2013 | 12:47 PM
Beckley, West Virginia? You've got to be kidding me! I'm from West Virginia, and I've been to Beckley many times throughout my life visiting family. Beckley is one of my least favorite places in West Virginia! The picture shows Tamarak, which to be honest, is not that exciting, and is not really in Beckley anyway. Seriously, it is a run-down town that has nothing going on, and if I didn't have family that lived there, I would never intentionally go there. This just discredits the entire article in my opinion.
Posted by Heather on May 8,2013 | 11:38 PM
I lived in Menomonie for four years during college at Stout. Somehow I missed the building in the photo. I lived in Mabel Tainter Hall for two years and loved the old house. The achitecture was nearly identical to the building featured. I'm hoping to visit Menomonie this coming warmer weather seasons.
Posted by Carole-Joy Evert on April 26,2013 | 03:11 PM
The best towns are where your loving family is.
Posted by John on April 22,2013 | 01:05 PM
I live in Astoria, OR and your description of the town seems to have come straight from a Chamber of Commerce brochure. I don't believe you actually visited the place. Or if you did, you limited yourself to the 10 square block tourist-trap area downtown. Outside of that you only see run-down houses, boarded up businesses, and people in hunting camouflage driving jacked-up pickups. You obviously did not talk to anyone outside of town officials either, or you would have realized the general sense of apathy that pervades the population. And what you euphamistically refer to as "blue collar" is actually just redneck. This is a depressing place, and it has nothing to do with the weather.
Posted by Charles Bode on April 16,2013 | 01:29 AM
Cool place,great to visit
Posted by Gage on April 15,2013 | 04:24 PM
I went through the 22 cities and did not find Lihue, HI. What happened? I went through the cities 2 times. I love Laguna Beach. I have been going to Laguna Beach for over 25 years.I never get tired of visiting. there is always something new. Christine
Posted by christine Smith on April 11,2013 | 05:27 PM
Hard to believe Aspen isn't on the list. For culture, it beats most of the others hands down.
Posted by chuck rock on April 11,2013 | 10:36 AM
My hometown!! Proud to say i live here..thanks for adding us to the list!
Posted by dottie legg on April 9,2013 | 01:34 PM
Sun Valley should be in here, but it might be a little to small. (5,000 is the population) It is a really fun place. GREAT skiing in Winter and pretty good mountain biking in the Summer
Posted by binruggeri on April 6,2013 | 03:25 PM
Gig Harbor is an awesome little town. 7,200 is pretty a small population, don't you think? Just research Gig Harbor, Wa and see all the cool stuff about it. Also for all those sun lovers, come in the summer.
Posted by ghf on April 2,2013 | 07:31 PM
While waiting in an Orthodontist office I found a maagazine which I am sure was a Smithsonian magazine ffor children, but I can find no info for one. Is there such an issue? Collin
Posted by Collin L. Neal on March 27,2013 | 05:31 PM
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