Grays Harbor
Grays Harbor is an estuary on the Pacific coast of the US state Washington , about 70 km north of the mouth of the Columbia River . The water is about 25 km long and 17 km wide. At the eastern end, the Chehalis River flows into the city of Aberdeen . Aberdeen is on the north bank and the smaller town of Hoquiam is immediately to the west. Apart from the Chehalis River, a number of other watercourses flow into the estuary, of which the Humptulips River is the most important.
Two low peninsulas separate Grays Harbor from the Pacific Ocean, with which the estuary is only connected by an opening about 3.5 km wide. Most of the northern peninsula is occupied by the Ocean Shores community . The southernmost point of the peninsula is Point Brown, which is opposite Point Chehalis at the northern end of the southern peninsula. The city of Westport is located on the southern peninsula .
Grays Harbor was named by Captain George Vancouver after Robert Gray , who discovered this natural harbor on May 7, 1792 and sailed it with his ship. Gray originally called the bay Bullfinch Harbor, the reports of George Vancouver's research voyages in the region - both captains had met only a few days earlier at sea - were published extensively in contrast to Gray's voyages, and so the name Gray's Harbor caught on. (A few days later, on May 11, 1792, Gray discovered a navigable canal into the Columbia River estuary, and Gray was the first white man to enter it.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephenie Flora: Captain Robert Gray . OregonPioneers.com. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
Web links
- Grays Harbor on the USGS Westport (WA) topographic map (Topozone.com, English)
Coordinates: 46 ° 56 ' N , 124 ° 3' W