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 ...
and
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 counte ...
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. It is also the name of the marine inlet on which the community is located. The CDP's population was 2,603 at the 2010 census, up from 1,968 at the 2000 census.
Originally a logging and sawmill community, its economy declined during the first half of the 20th century. Following the completion of the nearby Hood Canal Bridge in 1960, Port Ludlow became the site of resorts and planned communities, attracting more affluent residents who were retired, buying vacation homes, or needing a more convenient commute to the business centers on the west side of
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...
. Based on
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 ...
, Port Ludlow ranks 16th of 522 ranked areas in the state of Washington, and achieves the highest rank in Jefferson County. Port Ludlow's location and marina facilities make it a convenient and popular port for leisure craft sailing between Puget Sound and the
San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...
.
History
The
United States Exploring Expedition
The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...
, under
Charles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and List of explorers, explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842).
During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 ...
, entered Puget Sound in 1841. Wilkes bestowed many patriotically American place names; at the time the sovereignty of the
Oregon Country
Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...
was yet to be resolved between Britain and the United States. Many of Wilkes's names commemorated American heroes and victories during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
. Port Ludlow was one of these, honoring Augustus Ludlow, a War of 1812 American naval hero.
Early explorers of the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
often named sheltered inlets with names beginning with "Port". Communities that subsequently developed often adopted their inlet's name. Today Port Ludlow is both the name of the inlet and the community on its shore. To avoid confusion the inlet is sometimes called Port Ludlow Bay.
The first shipments of timber from the Puget Sound to
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
in 1851 stimulated interest in the business potential of building sawmills on Puget Sound. John R. Thorndike and W. P. Sayward sailed to Puget Sound in 1852 and found the environs of Port Ludlow promising. Thorndike filed a timber claim of , and they started building a mill there. The initial mill housed two sash saws capable of producing of lumber daily. The trees along the banks of the bay were logged first, and then oxen and horses were used to bring more distant logs to the mill. The mill was leased in 1858 to the Amos & Phinney Company, of which A. Phinney became the resident manager.
The U.S. Federal Census of 1860 designated Port Ludlow as one of the three enumeration districts in Jefferson County, Washington Territory. The census tally portrays the make-up of a young logging and sawmill community: Of the 124 people counted, 117 (94%) were adults between the ages of 20 and 50, and the remaining 7 were children. Of the adult population 112 (96%) were men and only 5 women, of which 3 were residing with husbands. 53 (47%) of the men were listed as lumbermen and 14 (13%) as sawyers. Of the total population, 94 (76%) were born in the United States, and of those all were born in the eastern half of the nation but two — a two-year-old born in California and a one-year-old born in Washington Territory. Of the 30 (24%) who were foreign-born, 8 were born in England, 8 in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, 6 in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, 4 in Germany, 2 in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, and one each in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. The
indigenous peoples
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 ...
were not counted in the 1860 census.
Geography
Port Ludlow, the community, is located on the eastern edge of Jefferson County on the northwest side of Port Ludlow, the waterbody. The original settlement of Port Ludlow is in the northern part of the CDP, with new development reaching south of the Port Ludlow inlet. The CDP also includes the communities of Mats Mats (to the north), Swansonville (to the northwest), and Beaver Valley (on the western edge).
Washington State Route 19
State Route 19 (SR 19) is a state highway serving rural Jefferson County on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels from SR 104 south of Port Ludlow and travels north through Chimacum and ...
forms the western edge of the CDP, leading north to Port Hadlock and having its southern terminus at Washington State Route 104 at the southwest corner of the Port Ludlow CDP. SR 104 forms the southern edge of the CDP and leads east across
Hood Canal
Hood Canal is a fjord-like body of water that lies south of Admiralty Inlet in Washington State that some consider to be the western lobe and one of the five main basins of Puget Sound.Port Gamble and west the same distance to
U.S. Route 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...
.
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 Port Ludlow CDP has a total area of , of which , or 18.28%, are water.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 1,968 people, 954 households, and 742 families residing in the CDP. 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 172.2 people per square mile (66.5/km2). There were 1,186 housing units at an average density of 103.8/sq mi (40.1/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.39%
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 ...
, 0.10%
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 ...
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 ...
, 0.76% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 1.52% of the population.
There were 954 households, out of which 10.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.2% 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, 2.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.2% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.29.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 9.5% under the age of 18, 2.0% from 18 to 24, 11.9% from 25 to 44, 36.2% from 45 to 64, and 40.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 61 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $56,938, and the median income for a family was $62,298. Males had a median income of $50,265 versus $24,531 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 CDP was $36,625. None of the families and 1.2% of the population were living 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 ...
, including no under eighteens and none of those over 64.
References
Further reading
* Jefferson County Historical Society, ''With Pride in Heritage: History of Jefferson County'', Portland, Oregon, Professional Publishing Printing, Inc., 1966.