Potlatch is an
unincorporated communityIn 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 or town with its own government. Thus, an unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in
Mason County, WashingtonMason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is named for the first Secretary of Washington Territory, C.H. Mason. As of 2000, the population was 49,405. The county seat is at Shelton, the county's only incorporated city....
,
United StatesThe 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 CanalHood Canal is a fjord off Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is sometimes considered to be one of the four main basins of Puget Sound.-Geography:...
, near the mouth of the
Skokomish RiverThe 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 ParkPotlatch 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. 2Cushman 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
hydropowerHydropower, hydraulic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of moving water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes....
electricity for
TacomaTacoma is a mid-sized urban port city in 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...
. Water from
Lake KokaneeLake Kokanee 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.-External links:...
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. 1Cushman 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 CushmanLake Cushman is a 4,010 acre 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...
, 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 townA 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
hydroelectricHydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of power through 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
SkokomishSkokomish, also known as the Twana, are a Native American tribe in 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. Historically the Twana were hunters, fishers, and gatherers...
Indian Tribal lands to the south. During
shrimpShrimp 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...
,
crabThe Dungeness Crab is a species of crab that inhabits West Coast eelgrass beds and water bottoms all the way from Alaska's Aleutian Islands down to Santa Cruz, California. They are named after Dungeness, Washington, which is located approximately five miles north of Sequim and 15 miles east of...
, and
salmonSalmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout; the difference is often attributed to the migratory life of the salmon as compared to the residential behaviour of trout, a distinction that holds true for the Salmo...
harvesting seasons, tribal fishing operations sell their fresh catch.