place

Dungeness Spit

Headlands of Washington (state)Landforms of Clallam County, WashingtonSpits of the United States
Dungeness Spit
Dungeness Spit

Dungeness Spit is a sand spit jutting out approximately 5 miles (8 km) from the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula in northeastern Clallam County, Washington into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is the longest natural sand spit in the United States. The spit is growing in length by about 15 feet (4.6 m) per year. The body of water it encloses is called Dungeness Bay.The Dungeness Spit is entirely within the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and home of the New Dungeness Lighthouse. Its land area, according to the United States Census Bureau, is 1,271,454 square meters (0.4909 sq mi, or 314.18 acres). The lighthouse once was run by United States Coast Guard, but in 1976 the agency installed an automatic light. Since 1994 the lighthouse has been staffed and maintained by the volunteer "New Dungeness Light Station Association". The spit is open to the public year around. The spit has a campground and "Dungeness Recreation Area" that is also open year-round. The campground features a 1-mile long scenic bluff trail, several miles of hiking/biking trails, and a designated equestrian trail. The spit was first recorded by Europeans during the Spanish 1790 Quimper expedition. British explorer George Vancouver named the landform in 1792, writing "The low sandy point of land, which from its great resemblance to Dungeness in the British Channel, I called New Dungeness." He named it after the Dungeness headland in England. In December 2001 a heavy winter storm forced water over the spit. The next morning the spit was split in three places, and vehicles supplying the lighthouse were not able to traverse the spit for about a month.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Dungeness Spit (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 48.168604 ° E -123.1394 °
placeShow on map

Address

Clallam County



Washington, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Dungeness Spit
Dungeness Spit
Share experience

Nearby Places

Dungeness School
Dungeness School

The Dungeness School is a historical schoolhouse building located at 657 Towne Road in Dungeness, Washington. The idea for the school was formed in 1892 by the settlers of the Dungeness area. On May 10, 1892 a meeting was held in which settlers created a bond for land and a two-story school house. In August 1892, the Dungeness Beacon reported that the contract for construction was awarded to Hall and Duncan for $1,673. The school house opened on February 27, 1893. The school originally had 73 students from the ages of 5 to 20. The school had one teacher who lived on the second floor of the school. Classes were large and books and supplies not easy to get. School Board minutes of April 8, 1895, show a motion was passed to buy the school a bottle of ink.In 1955, the Dungeness and Sequim School Districts were consolidated, and the old Dungeness School was closed. In 1967 the Dungeness Community Club purchased the land and the building from the Sequim School District. The Dungeness School was designated a Washington State Historical Site in 1971. On May 19, 1988, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1995, faced with rising maintenance costs, the schoolhouse was donated to the local museum and is now operated as a division of the Sequim Museum & Arts.The original building was 36 feet by 48 feet, and then in 1921 a second wing was constructed. A USGS datum point was placed on the southeast corner of the building in 1929. In 2008 the Schoolhouse Belfry along with the original school bell was restored.

Sequim Museum & Arts
Sequim Museum & Arts

The Sequim Museum & Arts, located in downtown Sequim, Washington, is a free-admission local history museum. Founded in 1976, the museum is home to the Manis Mastodon tusks and bones which were found at an early human encampment located on the present day Manis Farm, famous as one of the first-known contact between humans with a mastodon 13,000 years ago.The Manis Mastodon exhibit features a mastodon mural mounted with the remaining mastodon bones, related artifacts, and a video about the archaeological digs. Additionally, the museum is home to many local and photographs from the 19th century which showcase the prosperous dairy industry. Models of the Mosquito Fleet, along with records of the Dungeness Wharf, Washington Harbor, and Port Williams serve as reminders of the early primary transportation to the region. The Cowan Family Collection is a rotating exhibit of natural history artifacts. The Judith McInnes Tozzer Gallery features exhibits from local artists and changes often. The Boys in the Boat exhibit about Joe Rantz and the gold medalist rowing team of the 1936 Olympics. Also on display are vintage vehicles and tractors, a dairy parlor, a logging display, as well as a Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe exhibit, which as of 10/2019 it is still under construction. The museum's first exhibit building was opened May 10, 1979, at 175 W. Cedar Street where the former Post Office was. In 1992 merged with Peninsula Cultural Arts Center to become the Museum & Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley. Then in 1995 the museum acquired the Dungeness School. On July 6, 2019, the current exhibit building opened. In 2019 the museum changed its name to the Sequim Museum & ArtsThe Exhibit Center is located at 544 N. Sequim Ave. in Sequim. The museum administrative offices are located at the DeWitt Building, 544 N. Sequim Ave. The DeWitt Building also houses the Whatton Library for Historical Research, the Vollenweider Archives, the Robert Cooper Photography Studio, and the John & Inez Cowan Collection. The Dungeness School is located at 2781 Towne Rd. The Sequim Museum operates and maintains the historic Dungeness School (available for rentals), Captain John Morris House and Washington Harbor Schoolhouse. The museum is a 501(c)(3) private nonprofit organization, supported by membership fees, donations, bequests, and grants. It does not receive any county or municipal funding.