Kitsap County, named after a military leader of the Suquamish Tribe, occupies the northern end of the Kitsap Peninsula between Hood Canal and Admiralty Strait. Loggers cleared the dense forests and fed sprawling mills and thriving company towns.
Even before the mills went out of business, the U.S. Navy founded the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, which became the centerpiece of the county’s economy and the largest single employer. Water transportation has dominated the county’s culture and economy since before settlement.
The Washington State Ferry System carries more than half its 25 million passengers back and forth from the east side of Puget Sound to Kitsap County. In 2005, an estimated 240,000 people lived there.
To learn more about cities and towns on the peninsula, click one of the links below: