Port Angeles, Washington
Encyclopedia
Port Angeles is a city in and the county seat
of Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 19,038 at the 2010 census. The area's harbor
was dubbed Puerto de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Port of Our Lady of the Angels) by Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza
in 1791, but by the mid-19th century the name had been shortened and partially anglicized
to its current form,
Port Angeles Harbor.
Port Angeles is home to Peninsula College
and is the birthplace of football hall of famer John Elway
. The city is served by William R. Fairchild International Airport
, and ferry service is provided across the Strait of Juan de Fuca
to Victoria, British Columbia
, Canada on the M/V Coho or Victoria Express
.
, the city has a total area of 63.1 square miles (163.3 km2), of which 10.1 square miles (26.1 km2) is land and 53.0 square miles (137.2 km2) (84.00%) is water.
The city is situated on the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula
along the shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca
. It features a long and narrow natural sandspit named Ediz Hook
(which houses a coast guard base on the end) that projects north-easterly nearly three miles into the Strait, creating a large, natural deep-water harbor shielded from the storms and swells that move predominantly eastward down the Strait from the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is deep enough to provide anchorage for most kinds of ocean-going ships. The south shore of Vancouver Island
and the city of Victoria, British Columbia
are visible across the Strait to the north.
Port Angeles is located in the rain shadow
of the Olympic Mountains
, which means the city gets significantly less rain than other areas of western Washington. The average annual precipitation total is approximately 25 inches, compared to Seattle's 38 inches. Temperatures are heavily modified by the maritime location, with winter lows rarely below 25 degrees, and summer highs rarely above 80 degrees. However, in winter the city can be vulnerable to windstorms and Arctic cold fronts that sweep across the Strait of Juan de Fuca
. Port Angeles receives about 4 inches 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
, which encompasses most of the Olympic Mountains, and was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
in 1938.
Newsradio 1450 KONP
is the local radio station offering news, sports, information and talk programming on AM 1450. The station is also broadcast on FM 102.1 (founded 1945)
Port Angeles is also one of several locations in the Olympic Peninsula
area of Washington State mentioned in the Twilight
series of books and movies, though no filming took place in Port Angeles for the movie. Port Angeles is also the home base of Rygaard Logging, one of the logging
companies featured in the second season of the hit History Channel program, Ax Men
.
, and 2.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino 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 US$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
for the city was $17,903. About 9.9% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.
, Japan, is a sister city of Port Angeles. The cities have an exchange student program set up through the Port Angeles School District. Port Angeles is also in close distance with Sequim, Joyce, and Forks, Washington.
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 19,038 at the 2010 census. The area's harbor
Harbor
A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...
was dubbed Puerto de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Port of Our Lady of the Angels) by Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza
Francisco de Eliza
Francisco de Eliza y Reventa was a Spanish naval officer, navigator, and explorer. He is remembered mainly for his work in the Pacific Northwest...
in 1791, but by the mid-19th century the name had been shortened and partially anglicized
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
to its current form,
Port Angeles Harbor.
Port Angeles is home to Peninsula College
Peninsula College
Peninsula College is a community college located in Port Angeles, Washington with satellite operations in Forks and Port Townsend. Founded in 1961, it serves the Olympic Peninsula. Peninsula College has approximately 10,000 students, two-thirds of whom attend part-time.-External...
and is the birthplace of football hall of famer John Elway
John Elway
John Albert Elway, Jr. is a former American football quarterback and currently is the executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He played college football at Stanford and his entire professional career with the Denver Broncos...
. The city is served by William R. Fairchild International Airport
William R. Fairchild International Airport
William R. Fairchild International Airport is a public airport located within the city limits of Port Angeles, in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It lies three nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Port Angeles, near the Strait of Juan de Fuca...
, and ferry service is provided across the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
to Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, Canada on the M/V Coho or Victoria Express
Victoria Express
Victoria Express, also known as Victoria Rapid Transit, was the name of a private, seasonal ferry operation based in Port Angeles, Washington. They operated two passenger-only ferries, on routes between Port Angeles and Victoria, British Columbia and Friday Harbor, Washington during the summer,...
.
Geography
The coordinates of Port Angeles are 48°06′47″N 123°26′27″. (48.112969, -123.440713). According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 63.1 square miles (163.3 km2), of which 10.1 square miles (26.1 km2) is land and 53.0 square miles (137.2 km2) (84.00%) is water.
The city is situated on the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula
Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is the large arm of land in western Washington state of the USA, that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the east by Puget Sound. Cape Alava, the westernmost point in the contiguous...
along the shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
. It features a long and narrow natural sandspit named Ediz Hook
Ediz Hook
Ediz Hook is a sand spit that extends from northern shore of the Olympic Peninsula at Port Angeles in northcentral Clallam County, Washington, northeasterly into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, located about West of the larger Dungeness Spit...
(which houses a coast guard base on the end) that projects north-easterly nearly three miles into the Strait, creating a large, natural deep-water harbor shielded from the storms and swells that move predominantly eastward down the Strait from the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is deep enough to provide anchorage for most kinds of ocean-going ships. The south shore of Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
and the city of Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
are visible across the Strait to the north.
Port Angeles is located in the rain shadow
Rain shadow
A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...
of the Olympic Mountains
Olympic Mountains
The Olympic Mountains is a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of western Washington in the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high - Mount Olympus is the highest at - but the western slopes of the Olympics rise directly out of the Pacific...
, which means the city gets significantly less rain than other areas of western Washington. The average annual precipitation total is approximately 25 inches, compared to Seattle's 38 inches. Temperatures are heavily modified by the maritime location, with winter lows rarely below 25 degrees, and summer highs rarely above 80 degrees. However, in winter the city can be vulnerable to windstorms and Arctic cold fronts that sweep across the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
. Port Angeles receives about 4 inches 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
Olympic National Park is located in the U.S. state of Washington, in the Olympic Peninsula. The park can be divided into four basic regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west side temperate rainforest and the forests of the drier east side. U.S...
, which encompasses most of the Olympic Mountains, and was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in 1938.
Media
The local newspaper is the Peninsula Daily News, originally the Port Angeles Evening News (founded 1916). The Peninsula Daily News publishes 6 days a week and hosts the North Olympic Peninsula's most popular website. www.peninsuladailynews.comNewsradio 1450 KONP
KONP
KONP is a radio station based in Port Angeles, Washington. It signed on the air at 6:30 a.m. local time February 3, 1945.-History:Evening Press Inc., a subsidiary of the Port Angeles Evening News Inc., first sought an AM radio license for the city of Port Angeles in 1937...
is the local radio station offering news, sports, information and talk programming on AM 1450. The station is also broadcast on FM 102.1 (founded 1945)
Port Angeles is also one of several locations in the Olympic Peninsula
Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is the large arm of land in western Washington state of the USA, that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the east by Puget Sound. Cape Alava, the westernmost point in the contiguous...
area of Washington State mentioned in the Twilight
Twilight (novel)
Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire,...
series of books and movies, though no filming took place in Port Angeles for the movie. Port Angeles is also the home base of Rygaard Logging, one of the logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
companies featured in the second season of the hit History Channel program, Ax Men
Ax Men
Ax Men is an American documentary 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. The show highlights the dangers encountered by the loggers...
.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 18,397 people, 8,053 households, and 4,831 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,823.1 people per square mile (704.0/km2). There were 8,682 housing units at an average density of 860.4 per square mile (332.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 91.35% White, 0.69% Black, 3.26% Native American, 1.29% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 0.38% from other racesRace (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino 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 US$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
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $17,903. About 9.9% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.
Sister city
The city of Mutsu, AomoriMutsu, Aomori
is a city located in northeastern Aomori in the Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the city had an estimated population of 61,205 and a density of 70.09 persons per km²...
, Japan, is a sister city of Port Angeles. The cities have an exchange student program set up through the Port Angeles School District. Port Angeles is also in close distance with Sequim, Joyce, and Forks, Washington.
External links
- City of Port Angeles Website
- Peninsula Daily News Website
- Olympic National Park
- North Olympic Discovery Marathon
- North Olympic Library System
- Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – The Pacific Northwest Olympic Peninsula Community Museum
- HistoryLink.org - Port Angeles - Thumbnail History