Union, Washington
Encyclopedia
Union is a small unincorporated community
in Mason County, Washington, United States
. The town lies along the southern shore of Hood Canal
, at an area known as "the Great Bend". There is no U.S. Census
data for the location. The ZIP Code
for Union is 98592.
State Highway 106 is the main route through Union, leading to Belfair farther north, and Potlatch and US Highway 101 to the south.
Local attractions include a working farm and roadside market, a golf course, marinas and public boat launch sites, and the deep saltwater fjord of Hood Canal
. Visitors come to the area for activities including boating, fishing, hunting, shellfishing, sea kayaking and birding.
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, neighbor to the Native American communities that had gathered where Hood Canal makes its great bend. This area is the homeland of the native Skokomish
Tribe http://www.skokomish.org/frame.htm. The Skokomish River
flows off the nearby Olympic Mountains
, flowing into Hood Canal just south of Union.
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.
Surviving that era, the wilderness of the Olympic Mountains was designated a National Park in 1938 by Franklin Roosevelt. The area is now an International Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site.
The mountains in the southeast corner of the park—Mt. Washington, Mt. Constance, the Brothers—rise across Hood Canal and can be seen from almost any point in Union.
The generation that followed McReavy’s drew inspiration from this 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.
Visitors continue to come for summers of sunshine and shellfish, for the return of the salmon.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Mason County, Washington, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The town lies along the southern shore of Hood Canal
Hood Canal
Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins, of Puget Sound in the state of Washington. Hood Canal is not a canal in the sense of being a man-made waterway—it is a natural waterway.-Geography:...
, at an area known as "the Great Bend". There is no U.S. Census
United 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...
data for the location. The ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
for Union is 98592.
State Highway 106 is the main route through Union, leading to Belfair farther north, and Potlatch and US Highway 101 to the south.
Local attractions include a working farm and roadside market, a golf course, marinas and public boat launch sites, and the deep saltwater fjord of Hood Canal
Hood Canal
Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins, of Puget Sound in the state of Washington. Hood Canal is not a canal in the sense of being a man-made waterway—it is a natural waterway.-Geography:...
. Visitors come to the area for activities including boating, fishing, hunting, shellfishing, sea kayaking and birding.
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, neighbor to the Native American communities that had gathered where Hood Canal makes its great bend. This area is the homeland of the native Skokomish
Skokomish (tribe)
The Skokomish are one of nine tribes of the Twana, a Native American people of western Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives along Hood Canal, a fjord-like inlet on the west side of the Kitsap Peninsula and the Puget Sound basin...
Tribe http://www.skokomish.org/frame.htm. The Skokomish River
Skokomish River
The Skokomish River is a river in Mason County, Washington, United States. It is the largest river flowing into Hood Canal, an arm of Puget Sound. From its source at the confluence of the North and South Forks the main stem Skokomish River is approximately long. The longer South Fork Skokomish...
flows off the nearby 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...
, flowing into Hood Canal just south of Union.
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.
Surviving that era, the wilderness of the Olympic Mountains was designated a National Park in 1938 by Franklin Roosevelt. The area is now an International Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site.
The mountains in the southeast corner of the park—Mt. Washington, Mt. Constance, the Brothers—rise across Hood Canal and can be seen from almost any point in Union.
The generation that followed McReavy’s drew inspiration from this 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.
Visitors continue to come for summers of sunshine and shellfish, for the return of the salmon.