Agate Pass or Agate Passage is a high-current

tidal strait A tidal strait is a strait through which a tidal current flows. Tidal currents are usually unidirectional but sometimes are bidirectional. Tidal straits, though they are narrow seaways, are technically not rivers. They are frequently of tectonic ...

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

connecting Port Madison and mainland

Kitsap County Kitsap County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, Washington, Port Orchard; its ...

in the US state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. It lies between

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 24,825 at the 2020 census, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. The island is se ...

and the mainland of the

Kitsap Peninsula 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 Kits ...

near

Suquamish The Suquamish () are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American people, located in present-day Washington in the United States. They are a southern Coast Salish people. Today, most Suquamish people are enrolled in the federally recognized Su ...

. It leads south towards

Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard ...

, extending about one mile (1.6 km) in a straight, southwesterly direction. The depth is about . The shores are wooded and fairly steep. The shoreline is mostly rocky and fringed with

kelp Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order (biology), order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genus, genera. Despite its appearance and use of photosynthesis in chloroplasts, kelp is technically not a plant but a str ...

to Point Bolin. The tidal currents have velocities up to six knots; the

flood tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

sets southwesterly, and the

ebb tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide ...

northeasterly. The traditional winter village of the

people was located on Agate Pass. It was the site of

Old Man House The Old Man House was the largest winter longhouse in what is now the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, once standing on the shore of Puget Sound. It was the center of the Suquamish village of on Agate Pass, just south of the present ...

, the largest longhouse on

, and is the location of Haleets, a petroglyph. Agate Pass was unknown to non-native people until it was discovered by the

Wilkes Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

in 1841. Before then, Europeans thought

was a peninsula. It was named by

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

Lt.

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and List of explorers, explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 ...

in honor of one of the members of the expedition,

Alfred Thomas Agate Alfred Thomas Agate (February 14, 1812 – January 5, 1846) was an American painter and miniaturist. Agate lived in New York from 1831 to 1838, where he studied with his brother, Frederick Styles Agate, a portrait and historical painter. He l ...

. In 1950, a fixed highway bridge, the

Agate Pass Bridge The Agate Pass Bridge is a structural steel truss cantilever bridge spanning Agate Pass, connecting Bainbridge Island to the Kitsap Peninsula. It was built in 1950, and it replaced a car ferry service which dated from the 1920s. The bridge provid ...

was built, connecting Bainbridge Island to the Kitsap Peninsula for the first time. The bridge is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

External links

Junius Rochester, "Wilkes, Charles (1798-1877)"
Essay 5226, 17 February 2003, History Link website
"Agate Pass Bridge"
History Link website Straits of Washington (state) Landforms of Puget Sound Bainbridge Island, Washington Straits of Kitsap County, Washington {{KitsapCountyWA-geo-stub /* External links */