Kitsap County is located in the U.S. state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is Port Orchard, and its largest city is Bremerton. The county was formed out of

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

and Jefferson County on January 16, 1857, and is named for Chief Kitsap of the

Suquamish The Suquamish () are a Lushootseed language, Lushootseed-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people, located in present-day Washington (state), Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish peopl ...

Tribe. Originally named Slaughter County, it was soon renamed. Kitsap County comprises the Bremerton- Silverdale, WA

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

, which is also included in the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

- Tacoma, WA

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and ...

. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

is the largest employer in the county, with installations at

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...

Naval Undersea Warfare Center The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is the United States Navy's full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support center for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, and offensive and defensive weapons ...

Keyport, and

Naval Base Kitsap Naval Base Kitsap is a U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state, created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor. It is the home base for the Navy’s fleet throughout ...

(which comprises former NSB Bangor and NS Bremerton). Kitsap County is connected to the eastern shore of

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals loc ...

routes, including the Seattle-Bremerton Ferry, Southworth to

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an i ...

via Vashon Island, Bainbridge Island to Downtown Seattle, and from Kingston to Edmonds, Washington. Kitsap Transit provides passenger-only fast ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle, Kingston and Seattle, and Southworth and Seattle.

History

The Kitsap Peninsula was originally acquired by the U.S. Government in three pieces by three treaties negotiated with the Native American tribes: * The Treaty of Medicine Creek, signed 26 December 1854, ratified 3 March 1855 * The

Treaty of Point Elliott The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as Treaty of Point Elliot (with one ''t'') / Point Elliott Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes ...

, signed 22 January 1855, ratified 11 April 1859 * Point No Point Treaty, signed 26 January 1855, ratified 8 March 1859. Territorial Governor

Isaac Stevens Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857, and later as its delegate to the United States House of Represen ...

represented the United States in all three negotiations. When the

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

was organized in 1853, the Kitsap Peninsula was divided between King County to the east and Jefferson County to the west. Official public papers were required to be filed at the county seat, which meant Peninsula business people had to travel to either Seattle or Port Townsend to transact business. On the understanding that they would "bring home a new county," area mill operators George Meigs and William Renton supported the candidacies to the Territorial Legislature of two employees from their respective mills: Timothy Duane Hinckley from Meigs' and S.B. Wilson from Renton's. Upon arrival in Olympia, the two men introduced bills to create a new county, to be named "Madison". Representative Abernathy from Wahkiakum County proposed an amendment to name it "Slaughter", in recognition of Lt. William Alloway Slaughter, who had been killed in 1855 in the Yakima War. The bill passed as amended. It was signed by Governor

on January 16, 1857. The county seat would be located in Meigs's mill town at Port Madison. In Slaughter County's first election on July 13, 1857, voters were given the opportunity to rename the county. The options were "Mill", "Madison" or "Kitsap". Slaughter was not one of the options. Kitsap won by an overwhelming majority.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (30%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest county in Washington by land area and third-smallest by total area. In addition to occupying most of the Kitsap Peninsula, Kitsap County includes both

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

and Blake Island. According to Puget Sound Partnership, Kitsap county has over of saltwater shoreline. The portion of the county north of Silverdale is often referred to as North Kitsap, and the portion south of Bremerton as South Kitsap.

Geographic features

* Blake Island *

Colvos Passage The Colvos Passage is a tidal strait within Puget Sound in the American state of Washington running west of Vashon Island between the island and the Kitsap Peninsula. It lies just north of the Dalco Passage. Colvos Passage has a permanen ...

* Dyes Inlet * Hood Canal * Kitsap Peninsula * Liberty Bay *

Port Gamble Port Gamble is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community on the northwestern shore of the Kitsap Peninsula in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is also a small, eponymous bay, along which the community lies, near the entrance to H ...

* Port Madison * Port Orchard *

* Sinclair Inlet * Toe Jam Hill * Seattle Fault Zone

Adjacent counties

Island County Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 86,857. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor. The county's name reflects the fact that it is compo ...

- northeast * Snohomish County - east *

- east/southeast * Pierce County - south/southeast * Mason County - southwest * Jefferson County - northwest

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 251,133 people, 97,220 households, and 65,820 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 107,367 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 82.6% white, 4.9% Asian, 2.6% black or African American, 1.6% American Indian, 0.9% Pacific islander, 1.6% from other races, and 5.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 6.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.3% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, 14.4% were Irish, 13.8% were

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

, 7.1% were Norwegian, and 4.2% were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. Of the 97,220 households, 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.3% were non-families, and 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 39.4 years. The median income for a household in the county was $59,549 and the median income for a family was $71,065. Males had a median income of $52,282 versus $38,499 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,755. About 6.1% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Bremerton * Port Orchard (county seat) * Poulsbo

Census-designated places

* Bangor Base *

Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanc ...

* Burley * Chico * East Port Orchard * Enetai * Erlands Point * Gorst * Hansville * Indianola * Keyport * Kingston * Kitsap Lake * Lofall *

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

* Navy Yard City * Parkwood *

Port Gamble Tribal Community Port Gamble Tribal Community is a census-designated place (CDP) corresponding to the Port Gamble S'Klallam Reservation in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 916 at the 2010 census. Geography The tribal community is in ...

* Rocky Point * Seabeck * Silverdale * Southworth *

* Tracyton

Other unincorporated communities

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

* Bay Vista * Breidablick * Brownsville * Camp Union * Central Valley * Clear Creek * Crosby * Eglon * Fernwood *

Fragaria ''Fragaria'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. There are more than 20 described species and many hybrids and cultivars. The most common strawberries grown com ...

* Gilberton * Glenwood *

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada *Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Illi ...

* Holly * Horseshoe Lake * Illahee * Island Lake * Kariotis * Lofall * Lone Rock * Long Lake * Olalla * Olalla Valley *

Scandia Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work ''Getica''. The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. The location is usually identified with Scandinavia. Jor ...

* South Colby * South Park Village *

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

* Waterman * Wautauga Beach * Wildcat Lake * Wye Lake

Politics

Kitsap County is generally considered to be a relatively Democratic area. In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Democrat

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

received 49.05% of the vote to Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's 38.07%. This Democratic margin widened in 2020, with candidate Joe Biden receiving 56.90% of the vote versus incumbent Trump receiving 38.80%. On mainland Kitsap County, politics are strongly influenced by working-class Bremerton, which casts moderate margins for Democratic candidates. Unincorporated Kitsap County is a mix of battleground areas. Non-Bremerton parts of incorporated mainland Kitsap County vary, with Silverdale having become a Republican stronghold, Poulsbo marginally Democratic, and Port Orchard consistently electing Republican candidates. Democrats typically carry the

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

s of the area by wide margins; the area around Little Boston (part of the S'Klallam Indian Reservation) regularly votes for Democratic candidates. The Kitsap County Auditor Website has detailed election results from 1998 to the present. County area political trends can be tracked by analyzing the election precinct data.

Government

Board of County Commissioners

*Ed Wolfe (R) - District #3, Central Kitsap. Wolfe became the first elected Republican county commissioner since

Jan Angel Janice E. Angel (born 1946) is an American politician who served as a member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 26th district from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as a member of the Washingto ...

was elected South Kitsap Commissioner in 2004. Wolfe replaced Linda Streissguth (D), who had been appointed in January 2014 to replace Josh Brown (D). Prior to his election, he was a local attorney specializing in litigation and business law. Commissioner Wolfe served with the U.S. State Department during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Fisheries Affairs with the rank of ambassador.
*Charlotte Garrido (D) - District #2, South Kitsap. Garrido was re-elected in Nov. 2012, when she defeated Linda Simpson. Commissioner Garrido previously served on the county commission from 1997 to 2000 and again from 2009 to 2012.
*Robert Gelder (D) District #1, North Kitsap. Gelder was appointed to replace Steve Bauer, who resigned in March 2011.

State legislators

23rd Legislative District

, East Bremerton, Poulsbo and Silverdale *Sen. Christine Rolfes (D) - Elected Nov 2012. *Rep. Tarra Simmons (D) - First elected Nov. 2020. *Rep. Drew Hansen (D) - Appointed Sept. 2011 to replace Christine Rolfes who had been appointed to the Senate. First elected in Nov. 2012.

26th Legislative District

Bremerton, Gig Harbor and Port Orchard *Sen.

Emily Randall Emily Elissa Randall (born 1985) is an American politician and activist who is a member of the Washington State Senate from the 26th district.

(D) *Rep.

Jesse Young Jesse Wade Young (born April 29, 1980) is a Canadian former professional basketball player. He also holds Irish citizenship. He played 2008-09 for Spain ACB league club CB Murcia. He signed for Bancatercas Teramo Basket (Italy LegaA) for 2009/2 ...

(R) *Rep. Michelle Caldier (R)

35th Legislative District

Bremerton, Shelton and Mason County *Sen. Tim Sheldon (D)* ''(Caucuses with Republicans)'' *Rep. Dan Griffey (R) *Rep. Drew C. MacEwen (R)

Education

Post-secondary education

* Olympic College

Public schools

* Bainbridge Island School District * Bremerton School District *

Central Kitsap School District Central Kitsap School District 401 is a public school district in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It serves unincorporated portions of the county, including the community of Silverdale, and portions of the City of Bremerton. As of Ju ...

* North Kitsap School District * South Kitsap School District

Transportation

Kitsap County is connected to the eastern shore of

by several

routes, including the Seattle-Bremerton Ferry, Southworth to

via Vashon Island, Bainbridge Island to Downtown Seattle, and from Kingston to Edmonds, Washington. Kitsap Transit provides local transit service within Kitsap County and connects to other transit systems that continue onto the Olympic Peninsula. The agency launched its fast ferry services to Seattle in July 2017, beginning initially with a Bremerton route and later expanding to Kingston in 2018. Fast ferry service to Southworth is expected to begin in 2020. The county is connected to Jefferson County and the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a ...

to the west by the Hood Canal Bridge. A government-owned rail line, the Bangor-Shelton-Bremerton Navy Railroad, runs through the county. It is a branch off the

Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad The Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad operates over 150 miles of track serving the U.S. State of Washington (state), Washington, and is headquartered in Centralia, Washington where interchanges with the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad ...

, with its junction at Shelton. At the Bremerton Junction near Gorst a spur follows Highway 3 along the shore of the Sinclair Inlet terminating at the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard, the other follows Highway 3 along the western shore of Dyes Inlet, servicing Bangor Naval Submarine Base. The Navy had originally intended to use armored trains to transport nuclear missiles to Bangor for the Trident submarines but protesters and a series of court decisions derailed the plan. Today the railroad is primarily used to transport scrap from PSNS.

Notable people

Tarn Adams Tarn Adams (born April 17, 1978) is an American computer game programmer, best known for his work on ''Dwarf Fortress.'' He has been working on the game since 2002 together with his older brother Zach. He learned programming in his childhood, an ...

, programmer and game designer, creator of '' Dwarf Fortress'' and other games *

Nathan Adrian Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian (born December 7, 1988) is an American competitive swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist who formerly held the American record in the long course 50-meter freestyle event. In his Olympic debut at the 2008 Summer O ...

, swimmer and Olympic gold medalist"Nathan Adrian - Bio"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...

''. Retrieved July 22, 2021. *

Ben Gibbard Benjamin Gibbard (born August 11, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a membe ...

, musician * Richard F. Gordon Jr., naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut * Russell Johnson, actor, best known as The Professor on TV's ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

''. * James Kelsey, sculptor * Debbie Macomber, best-selling romance novelist *

Gregg Olsen Gregg Olsen (born March 5, 1959 in Seattle, Washington) is a ''New York Times'', ''USA Today'' and ''The Wall Street Journal'' bestselling author of nonfiction books and novels, most of which are crime-related. The subjects of his true crime boo ...

, best-selling mystery/crime novelist * Benji Olson, NFL player for Tennessee Titans * Delilah Rene, radio personality, author and songwriter * Bree Schaaf, 2010 Winter Olympics competitor in bobsled. *

Aaron Sele Aaron Helmer Sele (born June 25, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who is currently a special assignment scout for the Chicago Cubs. Early years His family moved to Poulsbo, Washington, a town on the Kitsap ...

, former all-star MLB

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

. *

Ben Shepherd Hunter Benedict Shepherd (born September 20, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band Soundgarden from 1990 to 2019. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden. Early life Shepherd was bor ...

, bass player of Seattle rock band Soundgarden *

Scott Shipley Scott R. Shipley (born May 15, 1971 in Poulsbo, Washington) is an American slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1988 to 2004. He won three silver medals in the K1 event at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, earn ...

, slalom canoeist *

Marvin Williams Marvin Gaye Williams Jr. (born June 19, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. He played one season of college basketball for North Carolina before being drafted second overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2005 NBA draft. Hi ...

, NBA player for the Atlanta Hawks * Andrew Wood, lead singer of Seattle rock band Mother Love Bone

In popular culture

'' Walking Tall'' with The Rock and Johnny Knoxville was based in Kitsap County, and the City of Port Orchard is the basis for the fictional community of Cedar Cove in the books by Debbie Macomber.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Kitsap County official websiteKitsap County USGenWebKitsap Peninsula Visitor and Convention BureauKitsap Economic Development AllianceKitsap Historical Society and Museum
* {{authority control Washington placenames of Native American origin 1857 establishments in Washington Territory Populated places established in 1857 Seattle metropolitan area Western Washington