Welcome to Brinnon, Washington

Brinnon, Washington is located roughly at 47.679N and 122.897W, on the western shore of the Hood Canal. The only road in and out of Brinnon is Hiway 101.

Highway 101, the famous highway that runs from California to the top of the Olympic peninsula, runs along the western shore of the Hood Canal up from Shelton, passing through Brinnon, over Mount Walker pass, through Quilcene, and then up to Discovery Bay and beyond. To the west of the highway is the grand Olympic Mountains. To the east of the highway is the Hood Canal. This area of the Hood Canal is technically called, "Dabob Bay." For an interesting article on this section of the Hood Canal, see Short Trips: Friendly little towns and natural wonders.

Long before the State of Washington became part of the Union, the Hood Canal area was home to over 10,000 Native people. The earliest non-Indian settlers came to the Brinnon area to log for the Washington Mill Company at Seabeck or the Pope and Talbot facility at Port Gamble. At that time in history, travel was almost always by boat. These early settlers came from all over the Midwest and the east coast of the United States, seeking their fortunes in the wild west. They became the loggers, farmers, and mountain men that tamed the Puget Sound area.

The official filing dates of the earliest homesteads indicate the settling of the Brinnon area by at least April of 1873. Some of the names on these early homesteads are still known today. They include Turner, Sawyer, Whitney, Walker, Fisher, and Brinnon.

Ewell P. Brinnon, whose name is immortalized in the area, proved up on a homestead adjoining Fisher's on March 24, 1887. He bought the rights from Jacob Hauptly sometime around 1873. When Mr. Fisher died, Mr. Brinnon bought his homestead. Mr. Fisher and Mr. Brinnon appear to have been close friends.

The town of Brinnon is named after Mr. Brinnon. His birth date is unknown, but early claims say that he was born in 1827. Others say he was born in 1830. Official biographies claim that he was from Virginia, though he claimed to have been from Ireland. He is known to have been in Seabeck (a town on the other side of the Hood Canal), where he was the mill's fireman. On July 22, 1863 he was selected by Jefferson County commissioners to serve as Justice of Peace of Quagabor precinct. This was the first recording of him in Jefferson County. According to Mason County history books, Mr. Brinnon was the first logger at Tahuya and was an 1854 Skokmish settler, located near Potlatch. Historians claim that Mr. Brinnon sold all of his land to the government for the Skokmish Indian reservation, and at that time moved to the area which now bears his name.

During May of 1866, "Judge" Ewell Brinnon along with Judge Jacob Hauptly and Inspector Edward Lill became appointed to the election board in the "Doucealips" precinct No. 1. Mr. Brinnon continued his political career, and on May 6, 1873, he was appointed the supervisor of roads for District No. 7. On November 8, 1892 he was elected County Commissioner in Jefferson County.

Mr. Brinnon was community minded. He donated an acre of land for a school, as well as land for a cemetery. (Information about the cemetery: Brinnon Cemetery). Since the precinct and post office (established May 25, 1888) were so hard to pronounce (the Ducaboos and Quagabor), they were finally named after Mr. Brinnon.

Lillie Christiansen, in her History of Brinnon (1892-93), wrote, "Mr. Brinnon, before he died told Mr. Olson he was going to sit up there on Brinnon Hill and watch what everybody did in the neighborhood". Mr. Brinnon died on December 29, 1895 leaving behind his wife, Kate, and their two adopted children, Charles and Carrie, and a town that still to this day holds his name with pride.

Kate Brinnon was Ewell's wife. Her original native name is O'wota, as she was of the S'klallam Indians. She was the sister of General Scott, the Duke of York, King George, and General Taylor, a colorful group of S'klallam Indians, the children of Lach-ka-nim and Qua-tum-a'low. Kate was known as the Indian Princess by means of "royalty." When forced off of their tribal lands, the S'klallam were sent to the reservation at Skokomish, but instead her family wandered the Hood Canal and the Straits.

Kate Brinnon was known to be a nice person, a wonderful cook, and a great housekeeper. She had influence with the Indians of the area, and could be thought of as a peace keeper. In 1898 Kate was bedridden due to arthritis. During Kate's last few months while a Mrs. McCutchen cared for her, a Mrs. Heintze would bring her Sunday school cards, talking with her at great length.

On one of her final days, Mrs. Brinnon told Mrs. McCutchen that she saw Jesus looking in her window. When she died, there was a service in Chinook Jargon, as many Indians were in attendance. She was buried beside her husband, Ewell, on top of Brinnon Hill.

Today, the area and unincorporated village of Brinnon features the third oldest Boy Scout Camp in the United States: Camp Parsons. Camp Parsons is located right on the Hood Canal on the northern skirt of Brinnon. It was founded in 1919. It remains an active Scout Camp today. For education, the Brinnon School District 046 provides education for Kindergarten through Eighth grade, as well as Adult Education opportunities.

Brinnon contains the widest variety of plant (See some photographs.), animal, and aquatic species of any county in Washington. (Check out the Olympic National Park Field Guide, a field guide to animals, trees, and trails in the Olympic National Park, as well as the North Olympic Guide to Bird Watching, which lists over 10 places to bird watch on the Olympic Peninsula.) A vast array of recreational opportunities exist in Brinnon, including fishing, hiking, camping, clamming, and much more.

Brinnon invites you to come and explore the Hood Canal with its calm waters and colorful sunsets, and find the rewards of the Olympic Peninsula Region. Not actually a canal at all, the Hood Canal is a long narrow inlet of salt water beginning at the junction of the Juan de Fuca and Georgia straits near Port Townsend and extending south along the eastern edge of the Olympic Peninsula Region. The canal makes a great bend at Union, turning north and ending at Belfair.

Brinnon boasts of one of the Olympic Peninsula's beautiful State Park: The Dosewallips State Park, a 425-acre, year-round camping park with 5,500 feet of saltwater shoreline on the Hood Canal. It also has 5,400 feet of freshwater shoreline on either side of the Dosewallips River, which originates in the wilderness of the Olympics. It is a flat meadows area, and in the far southeast side of the park, old railroad beds can be found. These are remnants from the logging days when logs were railed down the mountains to the Hood Canal shoreline in Brinnon where they were floated to the ships and mills. There is a wildlife viewing platform, and vast areas open for field sports. The park features picnicking, hiking, fishing, oyster picking and clamming, camping, shrimping and wildlife viewing. There is one boat launch ramp in the park.

Postal information: Brinnon has a United States Post Office, downtown Brinnon, WA with the Zip code of 98320.

We even have a local Farmer's Market: Brinnon Flats Farmers Market - June-September, Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. For more information, contact Kate Marsh at 80 Brinnon Lane, Brinnon, WA 98320, (360) 796-4935, E-mail: kmarsh at waypoint dot com.

BrinnonProsperity.org is the local Brinnon, Washington's community on-line voice--an Internet publication providing information about Brinnon and Quilcene in south Jefferson County on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. This website is an active community resource for the South Jefferson County residents and businesses.

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