Union, Washington
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Union or Union City is a small
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 count ...
in Mason 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 community lies along the southern shore of the Great Bend of the
Hood Canal Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins,Skokomish River The Skokomish River is a river in Mason County, Washington, United States. It is the largest river flowing into Hood Canal, a western arm of Puget Sound. From its source at the confluence of the North and South Forks the main stem Skokomish Riv ...
, which flows from the nearby
Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easte ...
. The U.S. Census reported a population of 631 inhabitants in the 2010 census. The ZIP Code for Union is 98592. State Route 106 is the main route through Union, leading to Belfair farther north, and Potlatch and
US Highway 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
to the south.


History

The Hood Canal basin is the indigenous territory of several neighboring Native American communities, including the Skokomish and Squaxin peoples. In the 1830s, white fur traders built a blockhouse on the bluff where Union. Settlers arrived in the area in the 1840s, with the future Union City site being claimed in 1852 by Thomas Webb or Wells. The town of Union was founded and named in 1858 by merchants Willson and Anderson. In 1889, logging pioneer John McReavy platted Union City on Hood Canal's south shore. The area's logging operations worked at an unprecedented scale to supply the expansionist ethos of Manifest Destiny. Dozens of mills sent timber to the booming California goldfields and for the construction of the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
. The generation that followed McReavy's drew inspiration from the surrounding landscape. Union society circulated around Olympus Manor, an artist colony that prospered until 1952 when the manor burned. It was the first non-native artist colony in Washington. Union City was envisioned as the western terminus of a
transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
but the project was abandoned by the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
after the Panic of 1893.


Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the
Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
system, Union has a
warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.


Arts and culture

Local attractions include a working farm and roadside market, a golf course, marinas and public boat launch sites, and the deep saltwater
fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...
of
Hood Canal Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins,shellfishing,
sea kayaking A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They trade off the ma ...
and birding. In 2010, Union was named one of America's twenty prettiest towns by '' Forbes Traveler''.Forbes Traveler - 20 Prettiest Towns in America
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Parks and recreation

In 1938, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
designated the nearby wilderness of the Olympic Mountains a national park. The area is now an
International Biosphere Reserve Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. MAB's work engag ...
and a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. The mountains in the southeast corner of the park, Mount Washington, Mount Constance and the Brothers, rise across Hood Canal and can be seen from almost any point in Union.


References


External links


Union Visitor Information
{{authority control Census-designated places in Mason County, Washington Census-designated places in Washington (state)