All Over The Map: How Jefferson, King and Kitsap counties were named April 23, 2021 at 11:13 am Port Townshend, the body of water, was named by Captain George Vancouver in May 1792 and included a silent “h”; the community of Port Townsend was first settled by non-natives around 1851. (NOAA Archives) It’s time for the sixth installment of County Countdown, KIRO Radio’s seemingly neverending 13-part series about the origins of county names and county seat names in the Evergreen State. That’s right, we are nearly – but not quite – half way through, and our three counties for this episode are Jefferson, King and Kitsap.