Dungeness is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Clallam County Clallam County is a List of counties in Washington, county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 77,155, with an estimated population of 77,616 in 2023. The cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, United States, located north of Sequim and on the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The Canada–United States border, international boundary between Canada and the ...

. Dungeness has a number of waterfront residential communities, but also features the Dungeness Spit, a popular destination for locals and tourists.

History

The name "Dungeness" refers to the

Dungeness Dungeness (, ) is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the ham ...

headland in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was given by

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1792, who wrote: "The low sandy point of land, which from its great resemblance to Dungeness in the English Channel, It is called New Dungeness."

Dungeness crab The Dungeness crab (''Metacarcinus magister'') makes up one of the most important seafood industries along the west coast of North America. Its typical range extends from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to Point Conception, near Santa Barbara, Califo ...

get their name from the area, where the first commercial fishing was done for the species. The Dungeness crab fishery began in 1848 and is said to be the oldest known shellfish fishery of the North Pacific coast. Crab flourish in Dungeness Bay, and crabbing is a popular local pastime. 2009-0606-3crabs-Dungeness

Geography

Smaller communities within the Dungeness area include Old Town, which is located near the Cline Spit, and Jamestown, located around Jamestown Road.

Parks and recreation

Recreational areas in and near Dungeness include Cline Spit and the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge which contain many trails. The latter contains the Dungeness Spit, Washington state's longest natural sand spit and home to the New Dungeness Light House. Dungeness is currently home to Nash's Organic Farm, Five Acre School, and Olympic Lavender Heritage Farm. The latter is home of the Olympic Lavender Festival and one of many farms featured during the annual Sequim Lavender Farm Tour in July and annual Tour de Lavender Metric Century Ride in August.

References

Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) Unincorporated communities in Clallam County, Washington {{ClallamCountyWA-geo-stub