Bainbridge Island, Washington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bainbridge Island, Washington | |
| Nickname: "Penisvill" | |
| Motto: BI till i die | |
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | Kitsap County |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Darlene Kordonowy |
| Area | |
| - City | 6,969 sq mi (169.7 km²) |
| - Land | 27.6 sq mi (71.5 km²) |
| - Water | hagagagg sq mi (98.2 km²) |
| Elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population (2005) (est.) | |
| - City | 21,951 |
| - Density | 735.6/sq mi (284.0/km²) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| - Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| Website: http://www.ci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us/ | |
Bainbridge Island is an island in Puget Sound, and is an incorporated city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 20,308 at the 2000 census.
In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine named Bainbridge Island the second-best place to live in the United States.[1] It is locally known for its affluence, natural beauty, political progressivism, and high proportion of architects and lawyers with jobs in downtown Seattle. The local newspapers are the Bainbridge Island Review (twice-weekly) and the Kitsap Sun (a daily that also produces a weekly tabloid, the Bainbridge Islander).
The city is also known for its school district, consistently rated near to, or at, the top of the state[1]. Its crime rate is also significantly below national average, ranking as among the lowest in the Seattle metropolitan area[2].
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[edit] History
In 1841, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes visited the island while surveying the Northwest. Lt. Wilkes named the island after Commodore William Bainbridge, commander of the frigate U.S.S. Constitution in the War of 1812. Bainbridge Island was originally a center for the logging and shipbuilding industries. The island was known for huge and accessible cedars, which were especially in demand for ships' masts. The original county seat of Kitsap County was at Port Madison on the north end of the island.
The city of Bainbridge Island has occupied the entire island since February 28, 1991, when the former City of Winslow (around 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) of land on Eagle Harbor, incorporated August 09, 1947) annexed the rest of the island. Bainbridge Island's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of the sport of pickleball, as well as having the distinctions of sending the first Japanese-Americans to internment camps in World War II, and enjoying the highest rate of return among the internees. Since the 1960s, Bainbridge Island has become a bedroom community of Seattle, a 35-minute ride away on the Washington State Ferries.
In 2001, Bainbridge Island Little League were the first champions of the Northwest region to be represented in South Williamsport, PA.
[edit] Geography
Bainbridge Island is located at (47.655260, -122.535083).GR1
Bainbridge Island was formed during the last ice age — 13,000 to 15,000 years ago — when the 3000-foot thick Vashon Glacier scraped out the Puget Sound and Hood Canal basins.
Bainbridge Island is located within the Central Puget Sound Basin, east of the Kitsap Peninsula and west of the City of Seattle. The Island is approximately five miles (8 km) wide and ten miles (16 km) long, encompassing nearly 17,778 acres, or 28 square miles (73 km²), and is one of the larger islands in Puget Sound.
Bainbridge Island shorelines border the main body of Puget Sound, a large protected embayment, Port Orchard Bay, and two high-current passages, Rich Passage and Agate Passage. The island is characterized by an irregular coastline of approximately 53 miles (85 km), with numerous bays and inlets and a significant diversity of other coastal land forms, including spits, bluffs, dunes, lagoons, cuspate forelands, tombolos, tide flats, stream and tidal deltas, islands, and rocky outcrops.
Prominent land and coastal features include:
- Agate Point;
- Arrow Point;
- Bainbridge Reef;
- Battle Point;
- Beans Point;
- Bill Point;
- Blakely Harbor;
- Blakely Rock;
- Creosote, a low flat on the south side to the entrance of Eagle Harbor, extending 350 yards inland, then rising abruptly to over 200 feet;
- Decatur Reef;
- Eagle Harbor;
- Fletcher Bay;
- Hidden Cove;
- Manzanita Bay;
- Murden Cove, an open bight on the eastern side of Bainbridge Island;
- Point Monroe;
- Point White;
- Port Madison;
- Restoration Point;
- Rolling Bay;
- Skiff Point;
- Treasure Island;
- Tyee Shoal;
- Wing Point;
- Yeomalt Point;
On the Kitsap Peninsula, Bremerton and Poulsbo lie across the Port Orchard channel to the west, and the city of Port Orchard lies across Rich Passage to the south.
The island is quite hilly, and is known for its popular Chilly Hilly bicycle ride held every year in February. This ride has been the unofficial start to the bicycling season in the Pacific Northwest since 1992.
Bainbridge Island is connected to the Kitsap Peninsula by a bridge carrying WA-305 over Agate Passage, and to Colman Dock in Downtown Seattle by Washington State Ferries service from Winslow in Eagle Harbor.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Bainbridge Island has a total area of 169.7 km² (65.5 mi²). 71.5 km² (27.6 mi²) of it is land and 98.2 km² (37.9 mi²) of it (57.87%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 20,308 people, 7,979 households, and 5,784 families residing in the city. The population density was 284.0/km² (735.6/mi²). There were 8,517 housing units at an average density of 119.1/km² (308.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.88% White, 0.28% African American, 0.62% Native American, 2.40% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.75% from other races, and 2.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.17% of the population.
There were 7,979 households out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.1% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 33.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $70,110, and the median income for a family was $83,415. Males had a median income of $65,853 versus $42,051 for females. The per capita income for the city was $37,482. About 3.0% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Politics
Bainbridge Island is a stronghold for liberal politics and the Democratic Party. In the 2004 presidential election, 73 percent of the votes in the city were cast for Democrat John Kerry. Bainbridge Island features 22 precincts, all of which gave Kerry at least a 2-to-1 victory over Republican incumbent George W. Bush. Bush failed to break thirty percent in all but two precincts. Kerry's vote margins ranged from a low of 66.49%-32.28% at the Wing Point precinct to a high of 78.45%-19.18% at the downtown Blue Heron precinct.
[edit] Famous residents
- Russell Johnson - actor; The Professor, Gilligan's Island[2][3]
- Jack Olsen - author and crime journalist[4]
- Ben Shepherd - rock musician, Soundgarden[5]
- David Guterson - author of Snow Falling on Cedars[6][7]
- Ed Viesturs - world-class mountain climber[8]
[edit] Sister cities
Bainbridge has the following sister cities:
[edit] See also
[edit] Points of interest
- Bainbridge Island School District
- Bainbridge Island Historical Society
- Bloedel Reserve
- Fay Bainbridge State Park
- Fort Ward
- The Fort Ward Bunkers
- Fort Ward State Park
- Frog Rock
- The Grand Forest
- Islandwood School
- Point White Dock
[edit] References
- ^ Money Best Places to Live 2005. CNN/Money.com (July 2005). Retrieved on July 18, 2005.
- ^ Research Day: Urban Legend Purge. Defective Yeti. Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
- ^ The Professor's Place. Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
- ^ Jack Olsen, Crime Writer. Seattle Post-Intelligencer (July 19, 2002). Retrieved on January 1, 2007.
- ^ The Real Thing. SPIN (July 1996). Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
- ^ Biography of David Guterson. GradeSaver. Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
- ^ David Guterson. Meet the Writers. Barnes & Noble.com. Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
- ^ Sarah Tuff. I'm a Runner: Ed Viesturs. Runner's World. Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Bainbridge Island listing in SeattleWiki
- Bainbridge Island Community Network
- Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce
- City of Bainbridge Island
- Bainbridge Island Visitor Information
- Bainbridge Island Public Library
- Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council
- Chilly Hilly Bicycle Ride
- Bainbridge Island School District
- Islandwood School
- Bainbridge Graduate Institute
- Hyla Middle School
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
