Case Inlet, in southern

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 ...

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 An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

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. Case Inlet was named by

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 ...

of the Wilkes Expedition of 1838–1842, to honor Augustus L. Case, one of the expedition's officers. From the 1870s to the 1920s, transportation needs of the communities along Case Inlet were served by a small flotilla of steamboats.Findlay, Jean Cammon and Paterson, Robin, ''Mosquito Fleet of Southern Puget Sound'', (2008) Arcadia Publishing , at pages 10-11, 18, 27 and 35.

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USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

GNIS The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the associated states of the Marshal ...

entry ---- Inlets of Washington (state) Bodies of water of Mason County, Washington Bodies of water of Pierce County, Washington {{MasonCountyWA-geo-stub