Possession Sound is part 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 ...
, located in the
U.S. state of
Washington between
Whidbey Island and the shoreline of
Snohomish County approximately between the cities of
Everett and
Mukilteo. Possession Sound connects the main Puget Sound basin to the south with
Saratoga Passage and
Port Susan to the north. The
Snohomish River
The Snohomish River is a river in Snohomish County, Washington, formed by the confluence of the Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers near Monroe. It flows northwest entering Port Gardner Bay, part of Puget Sound, between Everett and Marysville. ...
flows into Possession Sound at
Port Gardner Bay.
Gedney Island, also called Hat Island, is located in Possession Sound.
Possession Sound was named by
George Vancouver
Post-captain, Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his Vancouver Expedition, 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Un ...
. On June 3, 1792, Vancouver landed near the present site of Everett and celebrated the birthday of
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
by holding a ceremony claiming possession of the land of "New Georgia" for Britain. Due to his circumnavigation of the world, Vancouver's dates are off by one. June 3 was, by his reckoning, June 4, the king's birthday. His possession ceremony also involved the naming of Possession Sound, Port Gardner, Port Susan, and the
Gulf of Georgia.
In 1825 a large piece of the southern tip of
Camano Island slid into Possession Sound—an event known as the Great Slide. A resultant
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
from the slide drowned many Indian residents of nearby
Hat Island. After that, the
Tulalip Indians used the site only for seasonal
clamming.
The
Washington State Route 525,
Mukilteo-
Clinton
Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...
passenger ferry run crosses the narrowest section of Possession Sound.
References
External links
*
Estuaries of Washington (state)
Everett, Washington
Bodies of water of Island County, Washington
Landforms of Puget Sound
Bodies of water of Snohomish County, Washington
{{SnohomishCountyWA-geo-stub