Mention Bremerton and most boaters will probably conjure up an image of the gritty Navy yard or the new waterfront condos near the town’s promising but forlorn downtown.

Few would likely think of the funky little neighborhood just a short walk—or dinghy ride—across Port Washington Narrows, at the entrance to Dyes Inlet.

But the trip across the historic Manette Bridge is worth the effort. At the other end is a community with the pleasant feel of a charming small town that time forgot or a hipster neighborhood not yet discovered. Manette’s small main strip offers a scattering of antique stores, an old-school sandwich joint, a waterfront bar and restaurant, an upscale Italian eatery, a live music tavern and a wine and martini bar.

It’s the type of place where a gray-haired Manette native will talk about the days when workers rowed across strong currents to get to the shipyard and the bartender will drop names of the famous Seattle musicians she calls friends.

Manette's commercial center

From a distance, you can spot Manette by the towering, iconic yellow “TV” sign above Manette TV & Electric. Serving as the equivalent of a lighthouse for this small community, it evokes a kind of frozen-in-time vibe that suggests undiscovered treasures.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, Ruth Reese tended her store, Manette Antiques, as locals stopped by to say hello and customers poked around her selection of glassware, jewelry, vintage clothing and other curiosities. The president of the Manette History Club, Reese grew up in the neighborhood, left for 27 years and has been back for almost two decades.

“It’s quiet. It’s charming. You don’t have to worry,” she said. “I love it.”

Dollar table trinkets at Manette Antiques

For its size, Manette offers an impressive array of eateries, all within a few blocks of each other. On the waterfront is the Boat Shed Restaurant, on a site where fishermen once bought bait and launched their boats. The old boat shed and bait shack have long since been replaced with a restaurant and pub that has an outdoor deck and a dock for customers arriving by water.

Across Wheaton Way at the corner of 11th Street is the delightfully retro-looking restaurant The Patio, in a tiny building that in various incarnations was a diner, a pizza joint and a laundromat. For takeout, try Kate’s Jersey Subs + Delicatessen on the corner of 11th and Pitt, which offers homemade sandwiches and salads.

A couple of blocks up 11th Street is the Manette Saloon, a tavern with live and DJ music on weekends. If the band gets too loud, head over to the adjoining Side Bar, a pretty, candlelit wine and martini lounge (read our review here).

For fancier fare there’s Fischiare La Fermata, a Northern Italian eatery across 11th and up a block. A little further up, on Perry Street just off 11th, is August Wynn, a former garage turned restaurant.

The neighborhood’s other businesses include a hair salon, massage studio, a barber shop specializing in fade haircuts and Afros, and a recent addition to the area, Storybook Tea & Boutique, which hosts tea parties for little girls, complete with fairytale dresses and tiaras, and Friday evening bedtime stories with tea.

The Manette Bridge, linking downtown Bremerton and Manette

Manette’s origins date back to at least 1866, when a settler named Theodore Williams bought 38 acres in the area and built a saloon to cater to sailors and workers from the Port Orchard Mill, located in the community of Enetai, a few miles east. Williams was followed by Joseph Pitt, a real estate entrepreneur who arrived in 1891 and began selling lots for homes and businesses.

The town was originally dubbed Decatur, but as Reese tells it, the name was already registered at a post office elsewhere. The settlement was instead named Manette, after one of the ferries that carried passengers across to Bremerton before the Manette Bridge opened in 1930. Manette was annexed to Bremerton in 1918.

These days, Manette’s residents range from families with roots there stretching back generations to former Seattleites drawn by less expensive housing and a slower pace.

Manette business directory

Reese and others say there’s concern among locals that Manette not become an overly commercialized neighborhood with tall buildings blocking water views. A proposed development plan for the neighborhood, which would increase density and lift height restrictions on buildings more than 35 feet high, has been controversial.

“People just don’t want condos like they have downtown,” Reese said, referring to the new waterfront developments near Bremerton’s ferry terminal.

Bonnie Ulsh, who’s lived in Manette since 1994, said she’s not overly worried about newcomers changing the area’s character. “I like the fact that it hasn’t had a tremendous amount of growth, but that there are people who are taking an interest in restoring the community,” she said.

“I wouldn’t want to see it change and become too commercialized. I like the small town feel.”

Change seems inevitable for Manette, as the city of Bremerton moves forward with plans for growth in several neighborhood centers as part of its overall comprehensive plan. The old Manette Bridge is scheduled for replacement, with construction expected to run from 2010 to 2012.

But for now, though it’s less than 12 miles away from Seattle by boat, Manette feels a world away. Catch it while you can.