In 1841 Lieutenant Charles Wilkes of the United States Navy named a piece of land overlooking part of western Puget Sound, Point Turner. Point Turner was on Sinclair Inlet, a calm, sheltered arm of Puget Sound. In 1889, fifty-eight years later, a commission sent by the United States Navy selected Point Turner as the best site on the Sound for a Navy base.
     Most of Point Turner was already owned by William Bremer, a German immigrant. In 1891 Bremer sold 190 acres of land to Lieutenant Wyckoff of the United States Navy for $50 an acre. Lieutenant Wyckoff became the first commandant of the Puget Sound Naval Station on Point Turner. The base was to be used as a repair station for Navy ships.
     William Bremer still owned land outside the shipyard and began a town nearby. The city of Bremerton was incorporated in 1901. Bremer encouraged settlers to locate in Bremerton. Early Bremerton had a school, a volunteer fire department, and electricity for shops and homes. Telephones and piped-in water were brought to town in 1902.
     The Bremerton area was originally covered by tall trees. Through the years the trees were logged off for development of the town and shipyard. Bremerton has been a Navy town since the 1890's. The shipyard was the largest employer in the area.
     By 1911 the population of Bremerton had grown to 3,000 people. In 1927 Bremerton and the nearby town of Charleston were joined into one town under the name of Bremerton. In 1961 the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard officially became part of the city of Bremerton.