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Poulsbo is a city on Liberty Bay in northern Kitsap County and is the smallest of the county's four incorporated cities.

The area is the ancestral home of the Suquamish people, many of whom moved to the Port Madison Indian Reservation after the Treaty of Point Elliott was signed in 1855.

Poulsbo was founded in the 1880s by Norwegian immigrant Jorgen Eliason, who was joined by other Scandinavian settlers drawn by the bay and forests that resembled the fjords of Norway.

The town's distinctive spelling came from a clerical error: settler Iver Moe proposed the name "Paulsbo" (Paul's place) for the post office in 1886, but a postal official in Washington, D.C. misread the handwriting and recorded "Poulsbo."

Poulsbo was incorporated on December 18, 1907, after voters approved incorporation with only two votes against it.

Known by the nicknames "Little Norway" and "Viking City," Poulsbo kept Norwegian as its primary spoken language until World War II.

The 2020 census counted 11,975 residents in Poulsbo, up from 9,200 in 2010, and Census Bureau survey estimates for 2020-2024 count about 5,321 households.

King Olav V of Norway made a royal visit to Poulsbo on October 22, 1975, to celebrate the sesquicentennial of Norwegian immigration to America.

Poulsbo celebrates its heritage with Viking Fest around Norway's Constitution Day (May 17), a Midsommer Fest in June, and the Norwegian Christmas celebration Julefest in December.

North Kitsap High School in Poulsbo traces its roots to Poulsbo High School, whose first class graduated in 1920; the school took its current name when local districts consolidated into the North Kitsap School District in 1941.