Copalis Beach is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in Grays Harbor County,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, United States. The population was 415 at the 2010 census. The name "Copalis" comes from the

Quinault language Quinault (''Kʷínaył'') is a member of the Tsamosan (Olympic) branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian p ...

term /k'ʷpíls/. The Copalis are a Native American group. Both the

Chehalis people The Chehalis people or Tsihalis are a native people of western Washington state in the United States. They should not be confused with the similarly named Chehalis First Nation of the Sts'Ailes people along the Harrison River in the Fraser Valley ...

and

Quinault Indian Nation The Quinault Indian Nation ( or ; QIN), formerly known as the Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Quinault, Queets, Quileute, Hoh, Chehalis, Chinook, and Cowlitz peoples.

claim the Copalis are a subdivision of their tribe.

Geography

Copalis Beach is located at (47.117784, -124.178435). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the CDP has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), of which, 3.7 square miles (9.6 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (2.63%) is water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 489 people, 232 households, and 135 families residing in the CDP. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 132.0 people per square mile (51.0/km²). There were 484 housing units at an average density of 130.7/sq mi (50.5/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 91.00%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.20%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 4.70% Native American, 1.43%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 2.66% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 1.43% of the population. There were 232 households, out of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.67. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 19.6% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 20.0% from 25 to 44, 32.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $33,194, and the median income for a family was $33,807. Males had a median income of $45,694 versus $20,156 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $17,437. About 17.3% of families and 17.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 37.9% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.

History

The Copalis Native Americans belong to the coastal division of the

Salishan The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana). They are characterised by ag ...

language family and historically occupied the area of

Copalis River The Copalis River is a stream on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It originates in the foothills on the southwest side of the Olympic Mountains and empties into the Pacific Ocean.USGS topographic maps accessed via https://mapp ...

and the Pacific Coast between the mouth of Joe Creek and

Grays Harbor Grays Harbor is an estuary, estuarine bay located north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state, in the United States of America. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the l ...

. In 1805,

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

estimated a population of 200 Copalis in 10 houses. The 5 individuals assigned to a "Chepalis" tribe in an enumeration given by Olson of the year 1888 probably refers to them. The first non-Native American people settled in Copalis Beach in the 1890s. Copalis, along with the beach of the same name, has become famed as the "Home of the

razor clam Razor clam is a common name for long, narrow, saltwater clams (which resemble a closed straight razor in shape), in the genera ''Ensis'', '' Siliqua'', ''Solecurtus'', and '' Solen'', including: * Atlantic jackknife clam, ''Ensis directus'' *Razor ...

." The community sits near the northern end of probably the greatest razor clam bed in the world for the flavor renowned variety abounds, apparently only in the Pacific Northwest, and particularly on Copalis Beach. During the commercial season, Copalis' normal population of about 350 persons, leaped fourfold. During 1947 and 1948, commercial diggers took more than a million pounds of

bivalves Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

from Copalis Beach, earned themselves approximately $200,000.00 and brought huge additional sums to cannery men and workers. Tourists dug thousands of pounds more.

References

External links

{{Authority control Census-designated places in Grays Harbor County, Washington Census-designated places in Washington (state) Populated coastal places in Washington (state)