Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 921,130, up from 795,225 in 2010, making it the second-most populous county in Washington, behind King County, and the 59th-most populous in the United States. The county seat and largest city is Tacoma. Formed out of Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the legislature of Oregon Territory, it was named for U.S. President Franklin Pierce. Pierce County is in the Seattle metropolitan area.
Mason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,726. The county seat and only incorporated city is Shelton. The county was formed out of Thurston County on March 13, 1854. Originally named Sawamish County, it took its present name in 1864 in honor of Charles H. Mason, the first Secretary of Washington Territory.
Port Ludlow is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. It is also the name of the marine inlet on which the community is located. The CDP's population was 2,603 at the 2010 census, up from 1,968 at the 2000 census.
Manchester is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 5,714 at the 2020 census. Manchester is located on the Puget Sound approximately 10 miles from downtown Seattle, and is adjacent to county seat Port Orchard to its east. Today, Manchester labels itself as a village. It is small in size but is home to a Kitsap Regional Library (KRL) branch, a post office, an elementary school, and a beachfront park to serve its residents.
Allyn-Grapeview is a former census-designated place (CDP) in Mason County, Washington, United States. At the 2010 census, the CDP was separated into Allyn and Grapeview. The combined 2010 population of the two new CDPs was 2,917. The community-based monthly newspaper called the North Bay Review, services the Allyn-Grapeview area. Allyn's main road and thoroughfare is State Route 3 with Grapeview connected to Route 3 via Grapeview Loop Road.
Midland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington. The population was 9,962 at the time of the 2020 census.
The Kitsap Peninsula lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kitsap County except Bainbridge and Blake Islands, as well as the northeastern part of Mason County and the northwestern part of Pierce County. The highest point on the Kitsap Peninsula is Gold Mountain. The U.S. Navy's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and Naval Base Kitsap are on the peninsula. Its main city is Bremerton.
Purdy is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place north of the city of Gig Harbor, and at the junction of Washington State Routes 16 and 302 on the northern boundary of Pierce County, Washington.
Home is a census-designated place in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The 2010 Census placed the population at 1,377. The community lies on the Key Peninsula and borders the waters of Carr Inlet, an extension of Puget Sound. Home is now primarily a town of beach homes, although around the turn of the twentieth century, it was considered a model, utopian community of anarchists.
Grapeview is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mason County, Washington, United States. The population was 954 at the 2010 census. It was part of the former Allyn-Grapeview CDP that was broken up into Allyn and Grapeview in 2010. Grapeview is connected to State Route 3 via Grapeview Loop Road.
Reach Island, or Treasure Island, is an island in Case Inlet in the southern part of Puget Sound in the state of Washington, United States. The island's original name was Oak Island, but was later renamed it Reach Island due to its southern neighbor Stretch Island. It forms part of the unincorporated Mason County community of Allyn-Grapeview. The island has a land area of 0.36755 km2 and a population of 119 persons, as of the 2010 census.
Stretch Island is an island in Case Inlet in the southern part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It forms part of the unincorporated Mason County community of Allyn-Grapeview. The island has a land area of 1.2179 km2 and a population of 162 persons as of the 2010 census. On the island's north side, it has buoys for overnight mooring, and Stretch Point State Park, a small state park only accessible by boat.
The Puget Sound mosquito fleet was a multitude of private transportation companies running smaller passenger and freight boats on Puget Sound and nearby waterways and rivers. This large group of steamers and sternwheelers plied the waters of Puget Sound, stopping at every waterfront dock. The historical period defining the beginning and end of the mosquito fleet is ambiguous, but the peak of activity occurred between the First and Second World Wars.
Case Inlet, in southern Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington, is an arm of water between Key Peninsula to the east and Harstine Island to the west. Its northern end, called North Bay, reaches nearly to Hood Canal, creating the defining isthmus of Kitsap Peninsula. Case Inlet is the boundary between Pierce County and Mason County. The southern end of Case Inlet connects to Nisqually Reach, part of the southern basin of Puget Sound. Herron Island lies in Case Inlet.
Lake Washington steamboats and ferries operated from about 1875 to 1951, transporting passengers, vehicles and freight across Lake Washington, a large lake to the east of Seattle, Washington. Before modern highways and bridges were built, the only means of crossing the lake, other than the traditional canoe or rowboat, was by steamboat, and, later, by ferry. While there was no easily navigable connection to Puget Sound, the Lake Washington Ship Canal now connects Lake Washington to Lake Union, and from there Puget Sound is reached by way of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.
The steamboat Aquilo operated on Lake Washington and Puget Sound in the first part of the 20th century.
Vaughn is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Pierce County, Washington, United States. Vaughn is located on Vaughn Bay in the northwestern Key Peninsula. Vaughn has a post office with ZIP code 98394.
Case Inlet steamboats served the small communities along the shore of Case Inlet in southern Puget Sound from the 1870s to 1924.
Concordia was a steamboat that ran on Puget Sound from 1930 to 1976. Although later converted to diesel power, Concordia was the last inland commercial steamboat ever built on either Puget Sound or the Columbia river.
South Puget Sound is the southern reaches of Puget Sound in Southwest Washington, in the United States' Pacific Northwest. It is one of five major basins encompassing the entire Sound, and the shallowest basin, with a mean depth of 37 meters (121 ft). Exact definitions of the region vary: the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife counts all of Puget Sound south of the Tacoma Narrows for fishing regulatory purposes. The same agency counts Mason, Jefferson, Kitsap, Pierce and Thurston Counties for wildlife management. The state's Department of Ecology defines a similar area south of Colvos Passage.
