Agate Pass
Encyclopedia
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
in Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
connecting Port Madison
Port Madison
Port Madison, sometimes called Port Madison Bay, is a deep water bay located on the west shore of Puget Sound in western Washington. It is bounded on the north by Indianola, on the west by Suquamish, and on the south by Bainbridge Island. Port Madison connects to Port Orchard via the Agate Pass...
and Port Orchard
Port Orchard
Port Orchard, part of Washington state's Puget Sound, is the strait that separates Bainbridge Island on the east from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west. It extends from Liberty Bay and Agate Pass in the north to Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passage in the south...
. It lies between Bainbridge Island
Bainbridge Island, Washington
Bainbridge Island is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States, and the name of the island in Puget Sound on which the city is situated...
and the mainland of the Kitsap Peninsula
Kitsap Peninsula
The Kitsap Peninsula is an arm of land that is part of the larger Olympic Peninsula in Washington state that lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound. Hood Canal separates Kitsap Peninsula from the rest of the Olympic Peninsula...
near Suquamish
Suquamish, Washington
Suquamish is a census-designated place in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 4,140 at the 2010 census. Located within the Port Madison Indian Reservation, it is the burial site of Chief Seattle.-Geography:...
. It is the northern entrance to Port Orchard
Port Orchard
Port Orchard, part of Washington state's Puget Sound, is the strait that separates Bainbridge Island on the east from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west. It extends from Liberty Bay and Agate Pass in the north to Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passage in the south...
, extending about one mile (1.6 km) in a straight, southwesterly direction. The depth is about 20 feet (6.1 m). The shores are wooded and fairly steep. The shoreline is mostly rocky and fringed with kelp
Kelp
Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....
to Point Bolin. The tidal currents have velocities up to six knots; the flood tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
sets southwesterly, and the ebb tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
northeasterly.
The traditional winter village of the Suquamish
Suquamish
The Suquamish are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American Tribe, located in present-day Washington in the United States.The Suquamish are a southern Coast Salish people; they spoke a dialect of Lushootseed, which belongs to the Salishan language family. Like many Northwest Coast natives, the...
people was located on Agate Pass. It was the site of Old Man House
Old Man House
Old Man House was the largest "bighouse" in what is now the U.S. state of Washington, and once stood on the shore of Puget Sound...
, the largest longhouse on Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
. Agate Pass was unknown to non-native people until it was discovered by the Wilkes Expedition in 1841. Before then, Europeans thought Bainbridge Island was a peninsula. It was named by U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Lt. Charles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes was an American naval officer and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War...
in honor of one of the members of the expedition, Alfred Thomas Agate.
In 1950, a fixed highway bridge, the Agate Pass Bridge
Agate Pass Bridge
The Agate Pass Bridge is a structural steel truss cantilever bridge spanning Agate Pass, connecting Bainbridge Island to the Kitsap Peninsula. It was built in 1950, and it replaced a car ferry service which dated from the 1920s...
was built, connecting Bainbridge Island to the Kitsap Peninsula for the first time. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.