Mount Baker Block Building

The Mount Baker Block at 910-914 Water Street occupies Old Town Block 40, Lots 1 and 3, at the corner of Water and Taylor. It was commissioned in 1890 by Charles Eisenbeis Sr., a German emigrant who arrived in Port Townsend in 1858 and opened a bakery producing ship's bread and crackers. Eisenbeis built one of the largest mercantile fortunes in 19th-century Port Townsend and was elected the city's first mayor.

During the late 1880s boom, when Port Townsend dubbed itself 'The Inevitable New York' in anticipation of a transcontinental rail link, Eisenbeis financed multiple major buildings including the Mount Baker Block, the Eisenbeis Building, a hotel, a brickyard, a brewery, and the residence now known as Manresa Castle.

The expected railroad never reached Port Townsend, and the general recession of 1893 dealt a heavy blow to the local economy. Several Eisenbeis enterprises eventually wound up in bankruptcy. On September 29, 1897, the body of Eisenbeis's son, Charles Eisenbeis Jr., was found in the basement boiler room of the Mount Baker Block with a gunshot wound behind his right ear; the death was ruled a suicide. Local accounts in the Port Townsend Leader connect the death to the economic collapse and family business pressures.

The building today is operated commercially under the name 'Mount Baker Block,' housing offices and studios. It is a contributing property to the Port Townsend Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.