Editing Port Orchard, Washington (section)

==History==
The first European-Americans to settle in what is now Port Orchard were William Renton and Daniel Howard, who set up a sawmill there in 1854.<ref name=majors>{{Cite book|last=Majors |first=Harry M. |title=Exploring Washington |publisher=Van Winkle Publishing Co |year=1975 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoWrPQAACAAJ |isbn=978-0-918664-00-6}}</ref> The town that was to become Port Orchard was originally platted in 1886 by Frederick Stevens, who named the new location after his father, Sidney. The town of Sidney was incorporated September 15, 1890, and was the first in Kitsap County to be both platted and incorporated. Shortly thereafter, the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] sought a suitable location for another installation on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]], and found it with the assistance of Sidney's residents in Orchard Bay (this installation would later become the [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] in Bremerton).

The county seat was originally in [[Port Madison]], but moved to Sidney after a popular vote in 1892. In December of that same year, the residents of Sidney petitioned both the state legislature and the [[Post Office Department]] to rename the city "Port Orchard". The legislature refused, as Charleston (now West [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]]) had also requested that name. The Post Office Department, however, went through with the name change, and as a result the Port Orchard post office ended up in Sidney, and the Charleston post office ended up in Port Orchard. It wasn't until 1903 that local politician Will Thompson convinced the state legislature to correct this confusing situation, and relocated the Charleston post office to Charleston, at the same time renaming Sidney "Port Orchard", as it is known today.

A new city hall was opened in May 1999, replacing a seismically vulnerable building constructed in 1947. It was to be a catalyst for new development in the city's downtown.<ref>{{cite news|last=Vogel |first=Ann |date=May 20, 1999 |title=New city hall: Suddenly, a skyline |page=A1 |url=https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/1999/05-20/0093_new_city_hall__suddenly__a_skylin.html |work=[[Kitsap Sun|The Sun]] |accessdate=November 5, 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Tornado in Washington Dec 2018 damage 3.jpg|thumb|left|Damage from the [[2018 Port Orchard tornado|2018 tornado]]]]
On December 18, 2018, a cul-de-sac in Port Orchard was struck by an [[2018 Port Orchard tornado|EF2 tornado]] with winds between {{convert|120|and|130|mph}}, the strongest tornado in Washington since 1986. The tornado uprooted trees and damaged up to 450 homes and businesses, some of which sustained total roof loss. Some neighborhoods were evacuated due to reported gas leaks.<ref>{{cite web |last1= Sistek |first1=Scott |title=Port Orchard tornado confirmed an EF-2, strongest tornado in state since 1986 |date=December 19, 2018 |url=https://komonews.com/news/local/storm-survey-team-heads-to-gauge-damage-from-port-orchard-tornado |publisher=KOMO |access-date=December 19, 2018}}</ref>