Port Angeles ( ) is a city and

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

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, United States. The population was 19,960 at the 2020 census, it is the most populous city in the county, as well as the most populous city on the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large peninsula in Western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...

. The population was estimated at 20,101 in 2023. The city's

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

was dubbed (Port of Our Lady of the Angels) by Spanish explorer in 1791. By the mid-19th century, after settlement by English speakers from the United States, the name was shortened and partially

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

to its current form, Port Angeles Harbor. Port Angeles is home to Peninsula College. It is the birthplace of football hall of famer

John Elway John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American former professional football quarterback who spent his entire 16-year career with the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Following his playing career, he then spent 1 ...

and residents include writers and other celebrities. The city is served by William R. Fairchild International Airport. Ferry service is provided across 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 ...

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, Canada on the MV ''Coho''.

History

This area was long occupied by succeeding cultures of

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

s. In 1791, the harbor was entered by Spanish explorer , who named it (Port of Our Lady of the Angels), claiming it for Spain. He was on an expedition from southern California. This name was shortened to the current one of Port Angeles. It was not until the 19th century that European Americans began to settle here. A small whaling, fishing and shipping village developed, which traded with

. In 1856–57, the first settlers arrived and were followed by the Cherbourg Land Company in 1859. Soon afterwards the site caught the attention of Victor Smith. Smith, a protege of

Salmon Chase Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family Salmonidae, native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (''Salmo'') and North Pac ...

, was Collector of Customs for the Puget Sound District. He quickly gained approval to relocate the U.S. Customs

port of entry In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border control, border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not impo ...

for

Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

from Port Townsend to Port Angeles. With Chase's support, he also succeeded in getting President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

to designate at Port Angeles as a federal reserve for lighthouse, military and naval purposes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers platted a federal town site on the reserve land, laying out the street plan which still exists today. The fact that

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, was the only other city officially laid out by the federal government led the U.S. Board of Trade in 1890 to dub Port Angeles the "Second National City." Settlers soon followed slowly, but Smith's death in the sinking of the '' Brother Jonathan'' led to the loss of interest in the area. The Port of Entry was returned to Port Townsend and the area sank into obscurity until the 1880s. McKinley Paper Company Port Angeles

In 1884, a hotel was built and the trading post was expanded into the area's first general store. A wharf was soon built upon the site where the current ferry pier stands. A village of 300 in 1886, Port Angeles' population grew to 3,000 by 1890. Hundreds of its new residents were part of the Puget Sound Cooperative Colony, which was established in 1887 and built several of the settlement's first permanent civic facilities, including a sawmill, church, office building, and

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

. The town was incorporated on June 11, 1890, and was named the

of Clallam County later that year. A depression a few years later was weathered and the town continued to grow into the new century. In 1914, large-scale logging began with construction of a large mill and a railway connecting the hinterlands to the mill. Other mills were soon built and the lumber and pulp mills supported the economy of the area until well into the century. Tourism became increasingly important as the growing national affluence, and especially the 1961 opening of the Hood Canal Bridge that cut driving time from the populated central Puget Sound region, brought more visitors drawn by the mountains, rivers, and rainforest of Olympic National Park and by fishing and boating along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The mills began to close in the 1970s and 1980s until only one pulp mill remained in operation; the Rayonier specialty pulp mill was shuttered in 1997. In August 2003, a $275 million construction project known as the Graving Dock Project was started in Port Angeles near the water as part of the Hood Canal Bridge east-half replacement project. It was intended to construct an area for anchoring pontoons for the bridge.''Review of Port Angeles Graving Dock Project''
, Report 06-8, June 30, 2006 During construction, human remains and artifacts were discovered. This site was found to be the "largest prehistoric Indian village and burial ground found in the United States," according to a senior archaeologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Seattle. The archeology site also included Native American burials of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Archeologists were called in to conduct a professional excavation. They found about 300 graves and 785 pieces of human bones, in addition to numerous ritual and ceremonial Indian artifacts of the former Tse-whit-zen village of the federally recognized Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. This site had appeared to have been continuously occupied for thousands of years; some of the remains date back at least 8,000 years. Because of the significance of the site for Native American history, in December 2004, the graving dock project was abandoned. Many of the graves uncovered appeared to hold entire families, who seemed to have died suddenly. Archeologists speculate that this could have been the result of

pandemics A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic dis ...

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

and other infectious illnesses. These caused massive death tolls among Native American populations in 1780 and 1835, as they had no acquired

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

Infectious diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

contracted from interactions with European fur traders are believed to have killed about 90 percent of the people living in the Northwest before European American settlement of the area. In 2016, Port Angeles installed two street signs in English and Klallam to revitalize and preserve the area's Klallam culture.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The city is situated on the northern edge of the

along the shore of the

. Port Angeles features a long and narrow glacial moraine named Ediz Hook that projects northeasterly nearly three miles into the Strait. Ediz Hook creates a large, natural deep-water harbor shielded from the storms and swells that move predominantly eastward down the Strait from the Pacific Ocean. Coast Guard Air Station / Sector Field Office (SFO) Port Angeles is situated on the end of Ediz Hook. The harbor is deep enough to provide anchorage for large ocean-going ships such as tankers and cruise ships. The south shore of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

and the city of

are visible across the Strait to the north. Port Angeles is located in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

of the

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 (Washington), Mount Olympus is the high ...

, which means the city gets significantly less rain than other areas of western Washington. The average annual precipitation total is approximately , compared to Seattle's . Temperatures are moderated by the maritime location, with winter lows rarely below and summer highs rarely above . However, in the winter, the city can be vulnerable to windstorms and Arctic cold fronts that sweep across the

. Port Angeles receives about of snow each year, but it rarely stays on the ground for long. Port Angeles is also the location of the headquarters of

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a national park of the United States located in Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier e ...

, which encompasses most of the Olympic Mountains. This park was established by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

in 1938, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

Climate

Port Angeles has a warm summer

mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Csb''). It is heavily moderated by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, resulting in cool summers and mild winters for its latitude. Summers are far cooler than those of nearby

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. On June 27, 2021, Port Angeles set a new all-time record high of , breaking the city's previous all-time record high of . Port Angeles is in the

of the

, resulting in much lower precipitation (only per year) than locations to the west outside of the rain shadow.

Demographics

As of the 2022

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, there are 9,087 estimated households in Port Angeles with an average of 2.15 persons per household. The city has a median household income of $60,212. Approximately 11.0% of the city's population lives at or 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 ...

. Port Angeles has an estimated 55.2% employment rate, with 30.7% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 92.9% holding a high school diploma. The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (93.4%), Spanish (4.3%), Indo-European (1.1%), Asian and Pacific Islander (1.1%), and Other (0.1%). The median age in the city was 41.3 years.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 19,960 people, 8,883 households, and 4,955 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 9,567 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 82.73%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.84%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 3.31% Native American, 2.15% Asian, 0.21%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.43% from some other races and 9.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 5.59% of the population. 18.6% of residents were under the age of 18, 4.7% were under 5 years of age, and 22.4% were 65 and older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The ancestry of Port Angeles was 15.3%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 15.1% English, 13.2% Irish, 5.5% Norwegian, 3.3%

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, 3.2% French, 2.9%

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, 2.3% Polish, and 0.1%

Sub-Saharan African Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

. The median household income was $53,690, with families having $65,994, married couples having $79,727, and non-families having $30,368. A total of 11.5% of the population were in poverty, with 13.4% of people under 18, 11.5% of people between the ages of 18 and 64, and 10% of people over 65 being in poverty.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 19,038 people, 8,459 households, and 4,808 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 9,272 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.86%

, 0.83%

, 3.20% Native American, 1.75% Asian, 0.18%

, 0.90% from some other races and 4.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.03% of the population. There were 8,459 households, of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.2% were non-families. 35.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.79. The median age in the city was 41.6 years. 20.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.4% were from 25 to 44; 28.3% were from 45 to 64; and 18% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.6% male and 51.4% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 18,397 people, 8,053 households, and 4,831 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 8,682 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.35%

, 0.69%

, 3.26% Native American, 1.29% Asian, 0.17%

, 0.38% from some other races and 2.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.34% of the population. There were 8,053 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.84. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 23.7% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $33,130, and the median income for a family was $41,450. Males had a median income of $33,351 versus $25,215 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $17,903. About 9.9% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the

, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Media

Newspapers

The local newspaper is the ''

Peninsula Daily News The ''Peninsula Daily News'' is a daily newspaper printed Sundays through Fridays (for publication days of Monday through Saturday), covering the northern Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington, United States. The paper's main offices a ...

'', originally the ''Port Angeles Evening News'' (founded 1916). The ''Peninsula Daily News'' publishes six days a week and hosts a website for the North Olympic Peninsula.

Radio

Newsradio 1450 KONP is a local radio station offering news, sports, information and talk programming on AM 1450. The station is also broadcast on FM 101.7 (founded 1945). The Strait 102 KSTI is an FM radio station playing country music. KSTI is located at FM 102.1

Television and movies

Port Angeles is the home base of Rygaard Logging, one of the

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksHistory Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

program ''

Ax Men ''Ax Men'' is an American reality television series that premiered on March 9, 2008 on History. The program follows the work of several logging crews in the second-growth forests of Northwestern Oregon, Washington and Montana and the rivers ...

''. The Strait of Juan de Fuca north of Port Angeles was used for filming some of the open water scenes in the 1990 film ''

The Hunt for Red October ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...

''. Port Angeles was also used in the last scene of the 1994 movie ''

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman in the American West, including Dodge City, Kansas, Dodge City, Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, and Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone. Earp was involved in the gunfight ...

'' when Wyatt and Josie were on the boat out from the harbor with the Olympic Mountains in the distance.

Education

Public school education is provided by the Port Angeles School District which operates five elementary schools, one middle school, a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, an alternative high school and a vocational school. In addition, there are two private schools, Queen of Angels Catholic School and Olympic Christian School, both of which serve grades K-8. Peninsula College is a community college based in Port Angeles that serves the Olympic Peninsula.

Sister city

Mutsu, Aomori, Japan, is a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

of Port Angeles. The cities have an exchange student program set up through the Port Angeles School District.

Notable people

* Robin Alexis, New Age radio personality * Scott Bower, soccer player * Harold G. Bradbury, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral *

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', in 1976. His breakout collection, '' What We Talk About ...

, author * Casey Crescenzo, musician *

Matthew Dryke Matthew Alexander Dryke (born August 21, 1958, in Port Angeles, Washington) is an American former shooting sports, sport shooter. He competed and won a gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics. He is a two-time world champion in skeet shooting, fr ...

, former international shooter and Olympic gold medalist *

, former player for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

* Bernie Fryer,

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

/ ABA basketball player * Tess Gallagher, author * Patrick Haggerty, country singer *

Derek Kilmer Derek Christian Kilmer (born January 1, 1974) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Washington's 6th congressional district from 2013 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party ...

, U.S. Congressman * Sean Mac Falls, poet * Ellie Mathews, children's writer * Jim Michalczik, football coach and former NFL player * Robert Hopkins Miller, diplomat * Jeff Ridgway, Major League Baseball player * Arnie Roblan, politician * Jeff Suffering, singer for Ninety Pound Wuss * Bryan Suits, radio host, podcaster, US Army combat veteran, historian * Amelia Talon, ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' Playmate

References

External links

*
City of Port Angeles – official websiteVisit Port Angeles - Official Visitor Site for the City of Port AngelesPeninsula Daily News WebsitePort Angeles Chamber of Commerce
* ttp://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=8210 HistoryLink.org - Port Angeles - Thumbnail History {{Authority control Cities in Washington (state) Cities in Clallam County, Washington County seats in Washington (state) Micropolitan areas of Washington (state) Populated coastal places in Washington (state)