Grays Harbor (Washington)
Encyclopedia
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
bay located 45 miles (72.4 km) north of the mouth of the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state, in the United States of America. It is a ria
Ria
A ria is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Typically, rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they can be straight and without significant branches. This pattern is inherited from the...
, which formed at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels flooded the Chehalis River. The bay is 17 miles (27.4 km) long and 12 miles (19.3 km) wide. The Chehalis River flows into its eastern end, where the city of Aberdeen
Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States, founded by Samuel Benn in 1884. Aberdeen was incorporated on May 12, 1890. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis...
stands at that river's mouth, on its north bank, with the somewhat smaller city of Hoquiam
Hoquiam, Washington
Hoquiam is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington state, United States. The town borders the city of Aberdeen at Myrtle Street with Hoquiam to the west. The two cities share a common economic history in lumbering and exporting but Hoquiam has maintained its independent identity...
immediately to its northwest, along the bayshore. Besides the Chehalis, many lesser rivers and streams flow into Grays Harbor, such as Hoquiam River
Hoquiam River
The Hoquiam River is a stream in the U.S. state of Washington. It has three main tributaries, the East Fork, West Fork, and Middle Fork Hoquiam Rivers. The main stem Hoquiam River is formed by the confluence of the West and East Forks. The Middle Fork is a tributary of the West Fork.Most of the...
and Humptulips River
Humptulips River
The Humptulips River is a river in Grays Harbor County, Washington, in the United States. Its main tributaries are the East Fork Humptulips River, about long , and West Fork Humptulips River, about long . After the forks join, the main river is approximately 20 miles long.The Humptulips has a...
. A pair of low peninsulas separate it from the Pacific Ocean, except for an opening about two miles (3 km) in width. The northern peninsula, which is largely covered by the community of Ocean Shores
Ocean Shores, Washington
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 3,836 people, 1,789 households, and 1,198 families residing in the city. The population density was 444.7 people per square mile . There were 3,170 housing units at an average density of 367.5 per square mile...
, ends in Point Brown. Facing that across the bay-mouth is Point Chehalis, at the end of the southern peninsula upon which stands the town of Westport
Westport, Washington
Westport is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The city's population was 2,099 at the 2010 census.Westport is located on a peninsula on the south side of the entrance to Grays Harbor from the Pacific Ocean. The public Westport Marina is the largest marina on the outer coast...
.
Grays Harbor is named after Captain Robert Gray who discovered and entered it on May 7, 1792 in the course of his fur-trading voyages along the north Pacific coast of North America. Gray named the bay Bullfinch Harbor, but it was afterward named Grays Harbor by Captain George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
, whose contemporaneous explorations of the region—the ships of the two captains had met at sea, only days earlier—were well publicised at the time, while Gray's voyages were not. Grays Harbor was the name that stuck. (A few days later, on May 11 Gray found a navigable channel into the estuary of the Columbia River, and sailed into it
Gray sails the Columbia River
In May of 1792, American merchant sea captain Robert Gray sailed into the Columbia River, becoming the first recorded European to navigate into it. The voyage, conducted on the Columbia Rediviva, a privately owned ship, was eventually used as a basis for the United States' claim on the Pacific...
, the first white man known to have done so.)
Settlement of the area began in the early 1870s and was largely dependent on the lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
industry. As the forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s of the eastern United States
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
depleted, many loggers
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
from the East and the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
migrated to the Grays Harbor area, as well as many Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
ns and Finns
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge
Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge
Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge is located within Grays Harbor Estuary, at the mouth of the Chehalis River, which makes up the second largest watershed in Washington. It is one of four major staging areas for migrating shorebirds in the Pacific Flyway...
is located on 1500 acres (6.1 km²) of intertidal mudflats, salt marsh, and uplands around Hoquiam.
The schooner Annie Larsen
Annie Larsen
The Annie Larsen was a schooner that was involved in arms shipment in the Hindu German Conspiracy during World War I.The ship came into the spotlight when it was seized on 25 June 1915 by US customs officials at Grays Harbour and found to be carrying large quantities of small arms and ammunitions...
was seized at Grays Harbour on 25 June 1915 by US customs officials, later leading to what was at the time the most expensive trial in US legal history.