Potlatch is an unincorporated community in Mason County, Washington, United States. [1] It is located on the western shore of the Great Bend of Hood Canal, near the mouth of the Skokomish River.
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not governed by a local municipal corporation; similarly an unincorporated community is a settlement that is not governed by its own local municipal corporation, but rather is administered as part of larger administrative divisions, such as a township, parish, borough, county, city, canton, state, province or country. Occasionally, municipalities dissolve or disincorporate, which may happen if they become fiscally insolvent, and services become the responsibility of a higher administration. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. In most other countries of the world, there are either no unincorporated areas at all, or these are very rare; typically remote, outlying, sparsely populated or uninhabited areas.
Mason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2010 census, the population was 60,699. The county seat and only incorporated city is Shelton. The county was formed out of King 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.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
The town's main features are Potlatch State Park and the Cushman Dam No. 2 powerhouse, which generates hydropower electricity for Tacoma. Water from Lake Kokanee on the North Fork Skokomish River is piped to the powerhouse at Potlatch. Nearly the entire flow of the river was diverted to the Potlatch Powerhouse. [2] A 2009 settlement will result in more water from the Cushman Hydro Project, which includes Cushman Dam No. 1 at Lake Cushman, and Dam No. 2 at Lake Kokanee, being released into the lower North Fork Skokomish River. [3]
Potlatch State Park is a 57-acre (23 ha) Washington state park located on Hood Canal near the town of Potlatch. The park offers camping, hiking, boating, fishing, shellfish harvesting, beachcombing, and sailboarding.
Cushman Dam No. 2 is a hydroelectric dam on the North Fork of the Skokomish River in Mason County, Washington, United States, forming Lake Kokanee. Built in 1930, its three 27,000 kilowatt generators provide 233 million kilowatt-hours annually to the Tacoma Power system. Along with Cushman Dam No. 1, it is part of Tacoma Power's Cushman Project.
Hydropower or water power is power derived from the energy of falling water or fast running water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower from many kinds of watermills has been used as a renewable energy source for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as gristmills, sawmills, textile mills, trip hammers, dock cranes, domestic lifts, and ore mills. A trompe, which produces compressed air from falling water, is sometimes used to power other machinery at a distance.
The town's history dates to 1900, when Thomas Bordeaux became president of the newly incorporated Potlatch Commercial and Terminal Company. The company acquired timber lands and began construction of a logging railway to access them. Potlatch was built as a company town. The hydroelectric dam at Lake Cushman and the Potlatch Powerhouse began producing electricity in 1926. The second dam at Lake Kokanee was finished in 1930. The water is conveyed to Potlatch through huge pipes, visible for miles. [4]
A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, churches, schools, markets and recreation facilities. They are usually bigger than a model village.
Hydroelectricity is electricity produced from hydropower. In 2015, hydropower generated 16.6% of the world's total electricity and 70% of all renewable electricity, and was expected to increase about 3.1% each year for the next 25 years.
Potlatch borders the Skokomish Indian Tribal lands to the south. During shrimp, crab, and salmon harvesting seasons, tribal fishing operations sell their fresh catch.
The term shrimp is used to refer to some decapod crustaceans, although the exact animals covered can vary. Used broadly, shrimp may cover any of the groups with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata. In some fields, however, the term is used more narrowly and may be restricted to Caridea, to smaller species of either group or to only the marine species. Under the broader definition, shrimp may be synonymous with prawn, covering stalk-eyed swimming crustaceans with long narrow muscular tails (abdomens), long whiskers (antennae), and slender legs. Any small crustacean which resembles a shrimp tends to be called one. They swim forward by paddling with swimmerets on the underside of their abdomens, although their escape response is typically repeated flicks with the tail driving them backwards very quickly. Crabs and lobsters have strong walking legs, whereas shrimp have thin, fragile legs which they use primarily for perching.
The Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister or Cancer magister, is a species of crab that inhabits eelgrass beds and water bottoms on the west coast of North America. It typically grows to 20 cm (7.9 in) across the carapace and is a popular seafood prized for its sweet, moist and tender flesh. Its common name comes from the port of Dungeness, Washington.
Salmon is the common name for several species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. Other fish in the same family include trout, char, grayling and whitefish. Salmon are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Many species of salmon have been introduced into non-native environments such as the Great Lakes of North America and Patagonia in South America. Salmon are intensively farmed in many parts of the world.
