PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Historical Society is videotaping longtime local residents about their past in an attempt to preserve their stories while people still remember them.

“It is a gift to have these stories,” said oral/video history chair Ann Welch.

“With a lot of these people you just throw a switch and the stories come out.”

Welch and Dorothy Cotton, themselves born in Port Townsend and friends since childhood, spent several hours Monday at the soda fountain in the back of Don’s Pharmacy, 1151 Water St., and will return there from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. today with the hope of getting more stories.

Anyone who can tell stories about Port Townsend — even if they are recent transplants — is invited, according to Welch.

“The older the better,” Welch said.

“But people of all ages have good stories and even talking about how you got here can be interesting, especially when you never know what people will do later on.”

“It’s important to get these stories,” Cotton said.

“We aren’t interested in asking our grandparents about their lives when we are young, and when we get older it can be too late.”

Welch estimates several hundred people have already been videotaped, adding to an archive that already includes hundreds of transcribed audio tapes.

All those resources are available to anyone who wants to view them at the historical society’s research center, 13692 Airport Cutoff Road near Jefferson County International Airport.

On Monday, Sharon Wiley, 71, whose parents owned the Uptown Theatre and two other theaters when she was young, taped her recollections of growing up in Port Townsend.

The Uptown is still in the same place at 1120 Lawrence St., but when Wiley was young, her family lived in an apartment on the building’s second floor.

“We’d come home from school and work in one of the theaters,” she said.

“That’s what happens in a family business: There are no child labor laws.”

Wiley said kids spent a lot of time at the Port Townsend Recreation Center, still at 620 Tyler St., “where we would chase boys and they would chase us.”

She said her parents didn’t know where she went during the day and trusted the kids to return at dinnertime.

While safety concerns increased when she raised her sons, the sense of community still existed.

“My kids developed strong bonds with their friends,” she said.

“Kids who grew up in larger towns have to go to seminars and workshops to learn that.”

Welch said people are eager to tell these tales, and even the smallest detail can have historical significance and drama or excitement isn’t necessary.

“This is all good stuff,” Cotten said.

“It gives us perspective.”

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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.