Harry Richard Thurston was born on October 10, 1889, in Minnesota and moved to Gig Harbor from Tacoma in 1919. An electrical contractor, he sold and serviced portable light plants, set up switchboards, and wired ferry and fishing boats built in the harbor. In about 1920 he established the Pioneer Electric Company, and in the 1920s he was said to have revolutionized the fishing trade by installing the first 32-volt electrical system in a boat. He also first electrified part of the west side of Gig Harbor by setting up a 32-volt generator that brought light to the Peninsula Hotel and the Novak Building. He married Asta, a Swedish emigrant living in Poulsbo, in 1919. Elected justice of the peace for Post #2 in 1934, he was chosen by Gig Harbor's first mayor, Dr. Harold Ryan, to serve as the town's first municipal judge when the town incorporated in 1946, and he held that post until retirement. Court and early council meetings were held in Thurston's electric shop on today's Harborview Drive, and for many years the shop served as the town court's venue. During his years on the bench, he was selected as an Outstanding Justice of the Peace in Washington, was commissioned by Governor Langley to revise two chapters of the Code Book for the Justice of the Peace, and helped organize the Magistrates Association, whose charter members were entitled to be called judge for life. Judge and Mrs. Thurston donated the property for the city's first water well, which served the city from 1949 until 1988. Thurston retired in January 1967 and moved to his home, "The Wee Hus on the Doones," in Grayland, Washington, and he died on April 12, 1970. On March 28, 1977, the first official council meeting was held at 3105 Judson Street, and on April 11, 1977, the building was formally dedicated to the memory of Judge H. R. Thurston as the Gig Harbor Town Hall.