Priest Point is a residential area within the

Tulalip Indian Reservation The Tulalip Tribes of Washington (, ), formerly known as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Duwamish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish people. They are South a ...

Snohomish County, Washington Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 72nd-most populo ...

, United States. It was a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) during the 2000 census with a population of 779. The CDP was discontinued at the 2010 census. Based on

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Priest Point ranks 74th of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked.

History

The

Snohomish people The Snohomish people (, , ) are a List of Lushootseed-speaking peoples, Lushootseed-speaking Coast Salish, Southern Coast Salish people who are Indigenous peoples, indigenous to the Puget Sound region of Washington (state), Washington State. Mo ...

had a village at Rocky Point () that was primarily used for temporary dwellings outside of the rainy months; it was across the mouth of 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. ...

from the more prominent village of at modern-day Preston Point in Everett. The site was partially excavated in 2001 following the discovery of human remains during construction. Rocky Point was part of the

when it was established following the 1855

Treaty of Point Elliott The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as the Treaty of Point Elliot / Point Elliot Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes of the greater ...

, in which the Snohomish ceded most of their lands. The

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation wa ...

, a French Catholic missionary congregation, established a residential school for indigenous children on the Tulalip Reservation in 1857. Father Eugene Casimir Chirouse chose a site at Rocky Point, which was renamed Priest Point, and a

log house A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term "log cabin" generally refers to a smal ...

was constructed for the Mission of St. Anne's. It was moved to a new hillside location on modern-day Meridian Avenue with an adjacent

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. The residential school received federal funding and remained at Priest Point until it was destroyed by a fire in 1902 and replaced by a new campus near Mission Beach. Approximately two dozen unmarked graves at the Priest Point Cemetery have the remains of children who died at the residential school.

Geography

Priest Point is a spit that juts into Port Gardner at the mouth of the

. It is southeast of Tulalip Bay on the

, which is located west of

Marysville, Washington Marysville is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The city is located north of Seattle, adjacent to Everett on the north side of the Snohomish River delta. It is the second-largest ci ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of 3.0 square miles (7.7 km²), of which, 0.6 square miles (1.7 km²) of it is land and 2.3 square miles (6.0 km²) of it (78.38%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 779 people, 318 households, and 235 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,209.1 people per square mile (470.0/km²). There were 344 housing units at an average density of 533.9/sq mi (207.5/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 82.16%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.64%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 12.58% Native American, 0.77% Asian, 0.13%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.26% from other races, and 3.47% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.67% of the population. There were 318 households, out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.80. In the CDP, the age distribution of the population shows 20.4% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 32.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $52,344, and the median income for a family was $59,327. Males had a median income of $51,184 versus $28,333 for females. The

for the CDP was $26,322. About 5.7% of families and 6.9% 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 15.3% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{Snohomish County, Washington Populated places in Snohomish County, Washington Former census-designated places in Washington (state)