Potlatch is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Mason County, Washington, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located on the western shore of The Great Bend of Hood Canal

Hood Canal

Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins, of Puget Sound in the state of Washington. Hood Canal is not a canal in the sense of being a man-made waterway—it is a natural waterway.-Geography:...

, near the mouth of the Skokomish River

Skokomish River

The Skokomish River is a river in Mason County, Washington, United States. It is the largest river flowing into Hood Canal, an arm of Puget Sound. From its source at the confluence of the North and South Forks the main stem Skokomish River is approximately long. The longer South Fork Skokomish...

.

The town's main features are Potlatch State Park

Potlatch State Park

Potlatch State Park is a state park in the state of Washington in the United States. It is located on Hood Canal near the town of Potlatch.-External links:*, Washington State Parks...

 and the Cushman Dam No. 2

Cushman Dam No. 2

Cushman Dam No. 2 is a hydroelectric dam on the North Fork of the Skokomish River in Mason County, Washington, United States, forming Lake Kokanee. Built in 1930, its three 27,000 kilowatt generators provide 233 million kilowatt-hours annually to the Tacoma Power system. Along with Cushman Dam No...

 powerhouse, which generates hydropower

Hydropower

Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...

 electricity for Tacoma

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

. Water from Lake Kokanee

Lake Kokanee

Lake Kokanee, also known as Lower Lake Cushman, is a 150 acre reservoir on the North Fork of the Skokomish River in Mason County, Washington. The lake is maintained by Cushman Dam No. 2, providing electrical power to the Tacoma Power system....

 on the North Fork Skokomish River is piped to the powerhouse at Potlatch. Nearly the entire flow of the river was diverted to the Potlatch Powerhouse. A 2009 settlement will result in more water from the Cushman Hydro Project, which includes Cushman Dam No. 1

Cushman Dam No. 1

Cushman Dam No. 1 is a hydroelectric dam on the North Fork of the Skokomish River in Mason County, Washington forming Lake Cushman. It was built by Tacoma City Light in 1924-1926. Tacoma's demand for electricity grew rapidly after World War I...

 at Lake Cushman

Lake Cushman

Lake Cushman is a lake and reservoir on the north fork of the Skokomish River in Mason County, Washington. The lake originally was a long narrow broadening of the Skokomish River formed in a glacial trough and dammed by a terminal moraine from the last ice age, during the Vashon stade.The lake was...

, and Dam No. 2 at Lake Kokanee, being released into the lower North Fork Skokomish River.

The town's history dates to 1900 when Thomas Bordeaux became president of the newly incorporated Potlatch Commercial and Terminal Company. The company acquired timber lands and began construction of a logging railway to access them. Potlatch was built as a company town

Company town

A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...

. The hydroelectric

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 dam at Lake Cushman and the Potlatch Powerhouse began producing electricity in 1926. The second dam at Lake Kokanee was finished in 1930. The water is conveyed to Potlatch through huge pipes, visible for miles.

Potlatch borders the Skokomish

Skokomish (tribe)

The Skokomish are one of nine tribes of the Twana, a Native American people of western Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives along Hood Canal, a fjord-like inlet on the west side of the Kitsap Peninsula and the Puget Sound basin...

 Indian Tribal lands to the south. During shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

, crab

Dungeness crab

The Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister , is a species of crab that inhabits eelgrass beds and water bottoms on the west coast of North America. It typically grows to across the carapace and is a popular seafood...

, and salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

harvesting seasons, tribal fishing operations sell their fresh catch.