Bill Reynolds, Pat Richards and Laurie Lewis are all searching for something they hope to find before its too late. Before their residents pass away or vital materials are destroyed or unknowingly thrown away. They want help finding the one thing that evolves every day.

The history of Hansville and Kingston.

The three residents of the northern part of the peninsula have taken it up on themselves to find out how and why these communities — which are comparatively young to others in the nation — have become what they are today.

“I started the genealogy of my own family,” said Reynolds, president of the Kingston Historical Society. “After I started asking questions about Kingston, I decided Kingston needed its own historical society.”

His interest also took off when he discovered an old leatherbound ledger from the Newell Mill, dated from January 1903 to May 1904. The book listed everyone who worked at the mill during that time.

“A historical society of a town is genealogy,” Reynolds said, noting that he had received a positive response from locals. The idea had been floating around for about two years until he finally got serious about it.

Besides the ledger, a relic for which he is still trying to find a true owner, his starting point was “Little City by the Sea,” written by Harold Osborne in 1990. Osborne has since passed away but had two filing cabinets full of pictures and research, from which the book was written.

Reynolds said he has attained all the pictures from the book but noted that there was much more to sift through in Osborne’s cabinets. He’ll have access to those files once the organization is established and going. But the group isn’t too far from that point.

The Kingston Citizen Advisory Committee and the Kingston Revitalization Association have officially recognized the group and the state has already authorized the official registration of the Kingston Historical Society.

Reynolds said he is just waiting for the sanction from state for the organization to be recognized as a non-profit organization. That way, tax-free contributions can be made to help support the group.

Right now, everything is coming out of Reynolds’ pocket. And while he’s the leader of the society, community support is pouring in.

Gary Johnston of the Port of Kingston has offered to write up a history of the marina and representatives from Reliable Storage in Kingston said they will give the organization any size heated storage area when they need to stow items.

“It’s something in my feelings… that we needed,” Reynolds said. “You’ve got to have your history and have to have it local.”

If interested in contributing or joining the Kingston Historical Society, Reynolds can be contacted at 297-4010. The group meets every third Wednesday in the senior lounge at the Kingston Community Center. The next meeting will be Aug. 21 at 10 a.m.

Up north, Lewis and Richards are still in the “infancy” stages for the Hansville History Project.

An ad was in the Hansville Log, searching for a historian to create a scrapbook of the town’s history. Lewis said she and Richards didn’t want to do a scrapbook but write the history with the goal of creating a book in the future. That was in February.

“We made a plan to collect information, pictures, articles, do personal interviews,” Lewis said.

“Concentrating on the old timers,” she added with a laugh.

So using the book, “Kitsap County: A History,” as well as old newspapers articles and interviews with residents, such as Jack Bruce, the group is off to a strong start. And even though it is a small community, there is a wealth of knowledge, they both said.

The women speculate that Hansville’s earliest records date back to the 1880s. The Point No Point lighthouse went into operation on Jan. 1, 1880 and the lighthouse keeper was most likely the first resident, Lewis said. The summers that followed were filled with numerous visitors, who built homes for the season and fishing.

According to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article published on Dec. 1, 1963, Hansville was named after a well-known resident of the area at the time, Hans Zachariasen. At one point, a man named Anton Huseby refused to help seamen go to the Point No Point lighthouse to sample some of the local beer, “But Hans vill,” (“vill” being Scandinavian style), meaning Zachariasen would help the men to the shore. Hence, Hansville.

But that’s only one story of many that the historic duo have heard or read about the town’s beginning.

Now, Lewis and Richards aren’t so much looking for help as they are for information, stories, pictures, and virtually any sort of contribution to help the project grow. Even so, they want to make it interesting, not just loaded with numbers and facts.

“Our interest is to get something down that tells the story of the people who came here, who lived here,” Lewis said. “We want it to be entertaining.”

If interested in contributing to the Hansville History Project, Lewis can be reached at 638-2284 and Richards can be reached at 638-2082.