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Kitsap County, Washington facts for kids

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Kitsap County
U.S. county
Kitsap County Courthouse
Kitsap County Courthouse
Map of Washington highlighting Kitsap County
Location within the U.S. state of Washington
Map of the United States highlighting Washington
Washington's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Washington
Founded January 16, 1857
Named for Chief Kitsap
Seat Port Orchard
Largest city Bremerton
Area
 • Total 566 sq mi (1,470 km2)
 • Land 395 sq mi (1,020 km2)
 • Water 171 sq mi (440 km2)  30%%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 275,611
 • Estimate 
(2021)
 274,314 Decrease
 • Density 644/sq mi (249/km2)
Time zone UTC−8 (Pacific)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−7 (PDT)
Congressional district 6th

Kitsap County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, and its largest city is Bremerton. The county was formed out of King County and Jefferson County on January 16, 1857, and is named for Chief Kitsap of the Suquamish Tribe. Originally named Slaughter County, it was soon renamed.

Kitsap County comprises the Bremerton-Silverdale, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Seattle-Tacoma, WA Combined Statistical Area.

The United States Navy is the largest employer in the county, with installations at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport, and Naval Base Kitsap (which comprises former NSB Bangor and NS Bremerton).

Kitsap County is connected to the eastern shore of Puget Sound by Washington State Ferries routes, including the Seattle-Bremerton Ferry, Southworth to West Seattle via Vashon Island, Bainbridge Island to Downtown Seattle, and from Kingston to Edmonds, Washington. Kitsap Transit provides passenger-only fast ferry service between Bremerton and Seattle, Kingston and Seattle, and Southworth and Seattle.

History

When the Washington Territory was organized in 1853, the Kitsap Peninsula was divided between King County to the east and Jefferson County to the west. Official public papers were required to be filed at the county seat, which meant Peninsula business people had to travel to either Seattle or Port Townsend to transact business. On the understanding that they would "bring home a new county," area mill operators George Meigs and William Renton supported the candidacies to the Territorial Legislature of two employees from their respective mills: Timothy Duane Hinckley from Meigs' and S.B. Wilson from Renton's.

Upon arrival in Olympia, the two men introduced bills to create a new county, to be named "Madison". Representative Abernathy from Wahkiakum County proposed an amendment to name it "Slaughter", in recognition of Lt. William Alloway Slaughter, who had been killed in 1855 in the Yakima War. The bill passed as amended. It was signed by Governor Isaac Stevens on January 16, 1857. The county seat would be located in Meigs's mill town at Port Madison.

In Slaughter County's first election on July 13, 1857, voters were given the opportunity to rename the county. The options were "Mill", "Madison" or "Kitsap". Slaughter was not one of the options. Kitsap won by an overwhelming majority.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 566 square miles (1,470 km2), of which 395 square miles (1,020 km2) is land and 171 square miles (440 km2) (30%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest county in Washington by land area and third-smallest by total area.

In addition to occupying most of the Kitsap Peninsula, Kitsap County includes both Bainbridge Island and Blake Island. According to Puget Sound Partnership, Kitsap county has over 250 miles (400 km) of saltwater shoreline.

The portion of the county north of Silverdale is often referred to as North Kitsap, and the portion south of Bremerton as South Kitsap.

Geographic features

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1860 544 —
1870 866 59.2%
1880 1,738 100.7%
1890 4,624 166.1%
1900 6,767 46.3%
1910 17,647 160.8%
1920 33,162 87.9%
1930 30,776 −7.2%
1940 44,387 44.2%
1950 75,724 70.6%
1960 84,176 11.2%
1970 101,732 20.9%
1980 147,152 44.6%
1990 189,731 28.9%
2000 231,969 22.3%
2010 251,133 8.3%
2020 275,611 9.7%
2021 (est.) 274,314 9.2%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790–1960 1900–1990
1990–2000 2010–2020

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 251,133 people, 97,220 households, and 65,820 families residing in the county. The population density was 635.9 inhabitants per square mile (245.5/km2). There were 107,367 housing units at an average density of 271.9 per square mile (105.0/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 82.6% white, 4.9% Asian, 2.6% black or African American, 1.6% American Indian, 0.9% Pacific islander, 1.6% from other races, and 5.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 6.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.3% were German, 14.4% were Irish, 13.8% were English, 7.1% were Norwegian, and 4.2% were American.

Of the 97,220 households, 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.3% were non-families, and 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 39.4 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $59,549 and the median income for a family was $71,065. Males had a median income of $52,282 versus $38,499 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,755. About 6.1% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Kitsapcounty-wa
map of Kitsap County and surrounding area

Cities

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities

Fragaria washington
Beach cottages in Fragaria along Colvos Passage in Kitsap County

Transportation

Kitsap County is connected to the eastern shore of Puget Sound by several Washington State Ferries routes, including the Seattle-Bremerton Ferry, Southworth to West Seattle via Vashon Island, Bainbridge Island to Downtown Seattle, and from Kingston to Edmonds, Washington.

Kitsap Transit provides local transit service within Kitsap County and connects to other transit systems that continue onto the Olympic Peninsula. The agency launched its fast ferry services to Seattle in July 2017, beginning initially with a Bremerton route and later expanding to Kingston in 2018. Fast ferry service to Southworth is expected to begin in 2020.

The county is connected to Jefferson County and the Olympic Peninsula to the west by the Hood Canal Bridge.

A 48-mile-long (77 km) government-owned rail line, the Bangor-Shelton-Bremerton Navy Railroad, runs through the county. It is a branch off the Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad, with its junction at Shelton. At the Bremerton Junction near Gorst a spur follows Highway 3 along the shore of the Sinclair Inlet terminating at the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard, the other follows Highway 3 along the western shore of Dyes Inlet, servicing Bangor Naval Submarine Base. The Navy had originally intended to use armored trains to transport nuclear missiles to Bangor for the Trident submarines but protesters and a series of court decisions derailed the plan. Today the railroad is primarily used to transport scrap from PSNS.

In popular culture

Walking Tall with The Rock and Johnny Knoxville was based in Kitsap County, and the City of Port Orchard is the basis for the fictional community of Cedar Cove in the books by Debbie Macomber.

Education

Post-secondary education

  • Olympic College

Public schools

  • Bainbridge Island School District
  • Bremerton School District
  • Central Kitsap School District
  • North Kitsap School District
  • South Kitsap School District

Notable people

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Condado de Kitsap para niños

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