Puget Sound region

File:Edward S. Curtis Collection People 047.jpg

The Puget Sound region was formed by the collision and attachment of many terranes ("microcontinents") to the North American plate between about 50 to 10 million years ago.{{cite book |last= Kruckeberg |first= Arthur R. |title= The Natural History of Puget Sound Country |year= 1991 |publisher= University of Washington Press |location= Seattle |isbn= 0-295-97477-X |pages= 10–13}} About 15,000 years ago during the Vashon Glaciation, the Puget Sound region was covered by a lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet. The glacier that covered the area was about {{convert|3000|ft|m|sigfig=1}} thick within the vicinity of Seattle.Kruckeberg (1991), pp. 20–21. By the time Captain George Vancouver found the Sound in 1792, early native people had already been there for over 5,000 years.

Logging started as early as 1853. In the 1880s logging railroads cut their way into Puget Sound. 1886 the St. Helens fire burned {{convert|300000|acre|km2}}. Mount Rainier National Park started in 1899. The 1902 Yacolt Burn burned {{convert|600000|acre|km2}}. Olympic National Park was established in 1938.Kruckeberg, Arthur R. (1999). A Natural History of the Puget Sound Basin pp.52–68

George Vancouver explored Puget sound in 1792. Vancouver claimed it for Great Britain on June 4, 1792, naming it for one of his officers, Lieutenant Peter Puget. It became part of the Oregon Country, and became U.S. territory when the 1846 Oregon Treaty was signed.

After arriving along the Oregon Trail, many settlers wandered north to what is now Washington and settled the Puget Sound area. The first non-indigenous settlement was New Market (now known as Tumwater) in 1846. In 1853 Washington Territory was formed from part of Oregon Territory. In 1888 the Northern Pacific railroad line reached Puget Sound, linking the region to eastern states.

For a long period Tacoma was noted for its large smelters where gold, silver, copper and lead ores were treated. Seattle was the primary port for trade with Alaska and the rest of the country and for a time possessed a large shipbuilding industry. The region around eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during the period including World War I and World War II, and the Boeing Company became established in the area.

During World War II the Puget Sound area became a focus for the war industry, with Boeing producing many of the nation's heavy bombers and the ports of Seattle, Bremerton and Tacoma available for shipbuilding. The most important yards in the Sound during World War II were Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding's Seattle and Tacoma yards, also known as Todd Pacific, Todd Seattle and Todd Tacoma and the Puget Sound Navy Yard. They produced a significant portion of destroyers and escort carriers. Smaller operations included Winslow, Associated Shipbuilders and the Lake Washington Shipyard.

Since 1995, Puget Sound has been recognized as an American Viticultural Area by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.[http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=bff700d0bbb2a632948b70fe7e91d7d4;rgn=div5;view=text;node=27%3A1.0.1.1.7;idno=27;cc=ecfr#27:1.0.1.1.7.3.41.131 Code of Federal Regulations. "§ 9.151 Puget Sound."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212192141/http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr%3Bsid%3Dbff700d0bbb2a632948b70fe7e91d7d4%3Brgn%3Ddiv5%3Bview%3Dtext%3Bnode%3D27%3A1.0.1.1.7%3Bidno%3D27%3Bcc%3Decfr |date=February 12, 2012 }} Title 27: Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Part 9 — American Viticultural Areas; Subpart C — Approved American Viticultural Areas. Retrieved January 30, 2008.

{{main|Seattle metropolitan area}}

File:Map of Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue MSA and Seattle–Tacoma–Olympia CSA.svg

The urban region designated the Puget Sound Region is centered on Seattle and consists of nine counties, two urban center cities and four satellite cities making up what has been dubbed "Pugetopolis."For examples of the use of "Pugetopolis" see, for example, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090909133333/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,835680,00.html Pugetopolis], TIME Magazine; [https://books.google.com/books?id=fQT5bkm_jOkC Puget Sound: Sea Between the Mountains], at Google Books, p. 46; [https://books.google.com/books?id=3i1iVXcHiasC Frommer's Washington State], at Google Books, p. 17; and [https://books.google.com/books?id=JpO0Gq0mdkQC Western Cordillera and Adjacent Area], at Google Books, p. 197. Both urban core cities have large industrial areas and seaports plus a high-rise central business district. The satellite cities are primarily suburban, featuring a small downtown core and a small industrial area or port. The suburbs consist mostly of residences, strip malls, and shopping centers. The region is also home to numerous ports. The two largest and busiest are the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma, which, if combined, comprise the third largest container port in North America after Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York/New Jersey.{{cite web|title=2005 North American Container Traffic |publisher=American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) |url=http://www.aapa-ports.org/files/Statistics/2005_NORTH_AMERICAN_CONTAINER_TRAFFIC.pdf |access-date=May 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325062340/http://www.aapa-ports.org/files/Statistics/2005_NORTH_AMERICAN_CONTAINER_TRAFFIC.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009 }}

As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget, the Seattle metropolitan area is officially the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and consists of:{{cite map |author=Population Division |date=April 2020 |title=Washington: 2020 Core Based Statistical Areas and Counties |url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro/reference-maps/2020/state-maps/53_Washington_2020.pdf |publisher=United States Census Bureau |accessdate=January 26, 2024}}{{cite web |date=July 21, 2023 |title=OMB Bulletin No. 23{{hyphen}}01: Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, and Guidance on Uses of the Delineations of These Areas |pages=72, 81, 144 |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/OMB-Bulletin-23-01.pdf |publisher=Office of Management and Budget |access-date=January 26, 2024}}

• Everett metropolitan division
• Snohomish County: north of Seattle
• Seattle–Bellevue–Kent metropolitan division
• King County: Seattle and its immediate vicinity
• Tacoma–Lakewood metropolitan division
• Pierce County: south of Seattle

Based on commuting patterns, the adjacent metropolitan areas of Olympia, Bremerton, and Mount Vernon, along with a few smaller satellite urban areas, are grouped together in a wider labor market region known as the Seattle–Tacoma combined statistical area (CSA), which encompasses most of the Puget Sound region.{{cite map |date=February 2013 |title=Seattle–Tacoma, WA Combined Statistical Area |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/econ/ec2012/csa/EC2012_330M200US500M.pdf |publisher=United States Census Bureau |accessdate=January 26, 2024}} The population of this wider region is 4,269,349—almost two-thirds of Washington's population—{{as of|2012|lc=y}}.{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/popest/data/metro/totals/2011/tables/CBSA-EST2011-02.csv |title=Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Statistical Areas: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011 |format=CSV |work=2011 Population Estimates |publisher=United States Census Bureau, Population Division |date=April 2012 |access-date=April 12, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117113128/http://www.census.gov/popest/data/metro/totals/2011/tables/CBSA-EST2011-02.csv |archive-date=January 17, 2013}} The Seattle CSA is the 12th largest CSA, and the 13th largest primary census statistical area in the country. The additional metropolitan and micropolitan areas included are:

• Bremerton–Silverdale–Port Orchard metropolitan area
• Kitsap County: west of Seattle, separated from the city by Puget Sound; connected to Seattle by ferry and to Tacoma by the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
• Centralia micropolitan area
• Lewis County: south of Olympia
• Mount Vernon–Anacortes metropolitan area
• Skagit County
• Oak Harbor micropolitan area
• Island County: northwest of Everett, encompassing Whidbey and Camano Islands in Puget Sound
• Olympia–Lacey–Tumwater metropolitan area
• Thurston County: southwest of Seattle, at the south end of Puget Sound
• Shelton micropolitan area
• Mason County: west of Tacoma and northwest of Olympia

A state-run ferry system, Washington State Ferries, connects the larger islands to the Washington mainland, as well as both sides of the sound, allowing cars and people to move about the greater Puget Sound region.

{{wide image|Puget Sound from Space Needle High Rex.jpg|1250px|View of Puget Sound from the Space Needle}}

The region has a Csb (warm summer mediterranean) climate with some areas in the far east (western foothills of the Cascades) having an oceanic (Cfb) climate if the {{Convert|30|mm|in}} isohyet is used. The wet season is from October to April and is due to the Aleutian Low coming in from the northwest, and variation in winter rain from year to year is mostly due to variation in the strength of the Aleutian Low (strong = dry and weak = wet). The dry season (May-Sep) is caused by a subtropical high moving north from California. The driest part of the region is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains around Sequim and Whidbey Island, receiving 40-75 cm of precipitation per year. The wettest part is in the foothills of both the Cascade and the Olympic Mts, and on the west side of the Sound, receiving 125-1000+ cm of precipitation per year.{{Cite web |title=Puget Sound's climate {{!}} Encyclopedia of Puget Sound |url=https://www.eopugetsound.org/articles/puget-sounds-climate |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.eopugetsound.org}}{{Cite web |title=Climate and ocean processes {{!}} Encyclopedia of Puget Sound |url=https://www.eopugetsound.org/articles/climate-and-ocean-processes |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.eopugetsound.org}}{{Seattle weatherbox}}

{{Olympia, Washington weatherbox}}

File:Mt Rainier distant-600px.jpg is seen from Gig Harbor.]]

{{Expand section|date=January 2011}}

North Pacific Oak Woodland is one of the principal plant associations of the Puget Trough, where many of the soils are well drained mesic.{{cite book | first=C. Michael | last=Hogan | year=2008 | title=Quercus kelloggii | publisher=GlobalTwitcher | editor-first=Nicklas | editor-last=Stromberg |url=http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_info.asp?thingid=82385 | access-date=October 17, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924051817/http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_info.asp?thingid=82385 |archive-date=September 24, 2009}}

{{Further|Puget Sound#Flora and fauna}}

Counties of the Puget Sound region:

• Island County
• Jefferson County
• King County
• Kitsap County
• Mason County
• Pierce County
• Skagit County
• Snohomish County
• Thurston County

In addition, the San Juan Islands (all of San Juan County plus a few islands belonging to Whatcom County) are often considered part of the greater Puget Sound area.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}

Prominent islands:

• Anderson Island
• Bainbridge Island
• Blake Island
• Camano Island
• Fidalgo Island
• Fox Island
• Harstine Island
• Herron Island
• Indian Island
• Marrowstone Island
• Maury Island
• McNeil Island
• Mercer Island
• Squaxin Island
• Vashon Island
• Whidbey Island

File:Pugetsoundwithcities.PNG

Urban centers:

• Seattle
• Tacoma
• Olympia
• Everett

Satellite cities:

• Bellevue
• Bremerton

Other principal cities:

• Auburn
• Edmonds
• Federal Way
• Kent
• Kirkland
• Lakewood
• Lynnwood
• Marysville
• Mount Vernon
• Oak Harbor
• Puyallup
• Redmond
• Renton
• Shoreline

Military bases:

• Joint Base Lewis–McChord
• Camp Murray
• Naval Station Everett
• Naval Base Kitsap
• Bangor Annex
• Bremerton Annex
• Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
• Naval Air Station Whidbey Island

• Puget Sound
• Puget Sound AVA (American Viticultural Area)
• Seattle metropolitan area
• Peter Puget

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• Jones, M.A. (1999). Geologic framework for the Puget Sound aquifer system, Washington and British Columbia [U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1424]. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
• {{cite book|author=Prosser, William Farrand|title=A history of the Puget Sound country : its resources, its commerce and its people : with some reference to discoveries and explorations in North America from the time of Christopher Columbus down to that of George Vancouver in 1792, when the beauty, richness and vast commercial advantages of this region were first made known to the world|url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorypugetso00prosgoog|publisher=Lewis Pub. Co.|year=1903}} [http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications%5Fdetail.aspx?p=15 Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection]

• [http://www.psrc.org Puget Sound Regional Council]: The four-county regional coordination and planning organization for the Puget Sound region. It is charged with transportation, land use, and economic development planning for the region.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20010517202422/http://www.prosperitypartnership.org/ Prosperity Partnership]: An award-winning economic development coalition, dedicated to growing jobs and securing long-term prosperity in the Puget Sound region.
• [http://content.lib.washington.edu/vanolindaweb/index.html University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Oliver S. Van Olinda Photographs]: A collection of 420 photographs depicting life on Vashon Island, Whidbey Island, Seattle, and other communities of Washington State's Puget Sound from the 1880s through the 1930s.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060209130622/http://exhibits.pacsci.org/Puget_Sound/PSGeology.html Pacific Science Center: Geology of Puget Sound]
• [http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ships/pastquak.html USGS: Puget Sound earthquake origins]
• [http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/2001/kcr762/PDFELEMENTS/SONR03.pdf Features Of Puget Sound Region: Oceanography And Physical Processes], Chapter 3 of the [http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/watersheds/central-puget-sound/nearshore-environments/reconnaissance-assessment.aspx State of the Nearshore Report], King County Department of Natural Resources, Seattle, Washington, 2001.

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Category:Regions of Washington (state)

Category:Physiographic sections