Judge H.R. (Dick) Thurston

Judge H.R. (Dick) Thurston. . , Harry Richard Thurston was born October 10, 1889, in Minnesota. He moved to Gig Harbor in 1919 from Tacoma. Thurston had been an electrical contractor in Minnesota. In Gig Harbor, he sold and serviced portable light plants, set up switchboards, and wired ferry and fishing boats built in the harbor. He and Asta, an emigrant from Sweden living in Poulsbo, married in 1919., Thurston was elected justice of the peace to Post #2 in 1934. When Gig Harbor incorporated in 1946, he was selected by the town's first mayor, Dr. Harold Ryan, as the first municipal judge, a post Thurston held until retirement. Court and early council meetings were held in Thurston's electric shop on today's Harborview Drive. For many years the shop provided a venue for the town court., During his years on the bench, Thurston was selected as an Outstanding Justice of the Peace in Washington. Governor Langley commissioned Thurston to revise two chapters of the Code Book for the Justice of the Peace. Thurston helped organize the Magistrates Association and as a charter member of the organization, was entitled to be called "judge" for life., Thurston was a highly qualified electrician and established the Pioneer Electric Company in about 1920. It is said the judge revolutionized the fishing trade in the 1920s by installing the first 32-volt electrical system in a boat. He was the first to electrify part of the west side of Gig Harbor by setting up a 32-volt generator, bringing light to the Peninsula Hotel and the Novak Building in the 1920s., Judge and Mrs. Thurston donated the property for the first city water well, located near this spot. Today, the well is capped and buried beneath the north side of the building. The well served the city from 1949 until 1988., Judge Thurston retired in January 1967 and moved to his home, "The Wee Hus on the Doones" in Grayland, Washington. He passed away April 12, 1970., On the evening of March 28, 1977, the first official council meeting was held at 3105 Judson Street and the building was officially proclaimed as the Gig Harbor Town Hall. On April 11, 1977, the council formally dedicated the new building to the memory of Judge H. R. Thurston., [Photo captions, top and bottom, read] , . Judge H. R. Thurston beside Gig Harbor's first patrol car, June 1948, . Asta Thurston and grandson, David Wenning, at Gig Harbor's first well located near Thurston Lane and Judson Street. Judge Thurston donated the property to the city in 1947 or 1948.