Learn About the History and Geography of Henderson Inlet
Henderson Inlet, also known locally as “South Bay,” is a salt water bay located in Washington State at the southern end of the Puget Sound in unincorporated Thurston County, north of the city of Lacey. The Inlet’s northern end opens onto deeper waters adjoining Harstine Island connecting west through Dana Passage to Budd Inlet and downtown Olympia, the State Capital. Johnson Point boundaries the east margin of the Inlet and rounding the point leads towards the Nisqually Delta, then ultimately towards Seattle and the Pacific Ocean. To the south, the Henderson Watershed consists of predominantly of Woodland Creek which drains Hicks, Pattison and Long Lakes, and Woodard Creek which drains from East Olympia through Woodard Bay Natural Resource Conservation Area. The watershed consists of 23.9 stream miles and covers 23,352 total acres of drainage. There is lesser drainage by Libby Creek which flows to Chapman Bay. Wildlife abounds with many species of birds, mammals, fish and invertebrates. There is currently a large gulp of cormorants nesting in the fir trees lining Woodard Bay.
The southern end is exposed at low tide with depths increasing to an average of about 40 feet further to the north. There is a shoal at the mouth, Itsami Ledge lighted by a USCG maintained navigational marker. Maximum tidal change in Spring and Fall can reach over 20 feet. Henderson Inlet is approximately 3.5 miles long and 0.8 miles at its widest point. It was named by Charles Wilkes, commander of the United States Exploring Expedition in 1841 for its quartermaster, James Henderson.
History:
Acknowledgment is given to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henderson_Inlet
The shores of Henderson Inlet were once inhabited by the Nisqually people, of whom one branch, the Noosehchatle, had a settlement named Tuts’e’tcaxt in the Woodard Bay area, on the western shore of the inlet. Tuts’e’tcaxt comprised two cedar plank houses measuring 30 by 100 feet, inhabited by about a dozen natives who lived there during the inclement winter months, according to an 1854 report by George Gibbs, an agent of the territorial governor. Archaeologists suspect the presence of many tribal burials along both shores of the inlet, where evidence of native use exists in the form of numerous shell middens.
The first British garrison in the area, the fur trading post of Fort Nisqually (now part of DuPont), was established by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1833, some 10 miles east of Henderson Inlet. American settlers arrived shortly thereafter, and in 1846, under the terms of the Oregon Treaty, the area became part of the United States of America. In 1854 a millwright named Harvey Rice Woodard made a claim to the land around the bay that still bears his name, Woodard Bay, which soon became the location of a thriving logging industry that survived, though much diminished in its final years, until 1984.
In 1940 the 15th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, which had been based at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, since 1938, set up an Amphibious Training Camp on Henderson Inlet, north of Woodard Bay, with a pier, administrative buildings, barracks, and mess hall. The regiment operated this facility until 1942.[4]
Since 1987 a large section of the western shore of Henderson Inlet has been managed by the Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area, including the former property of the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and, to its north, part of the historic Esterly Farm and its associated woodland, which according to local folklore, possibly deriving from native legends, is populated by elves. The conservation area, now covering 600 acres, has expanded in stages by purchasing surrounding properties as they became available, and has developed into an important sanctuary for birds, bats, seals and otters.[5]
References
· Phillips, James W. (1971). Washington State Place Names. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-95158-3.
· “Thurston County Place Names: A Heritage Guide” (PDF). Thurston County Historical Commission. 1992. p. 34. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
· U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Henderson Inlet
· 15th Regiment, United States Army – HistoryLink.org
· Poultridge, Andrew (1991). Boomtime: A history of the Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area. Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Land and Water Conservation. ASIN B0006DK9QQ.