Budd Inlet is an Fjord located at the southernmost end of Puget Sound in Thurston County, Washington, surrounded on three sides by the City of Olympia.
Etymology
Budd Inlet was named by
Charles Wilkes during the United States Exploring Expedition, to honor Thomas A. Budd, who served as acting master of the
Peacock and
Vincennes.
A portion of the coast of
Antarctica,
Budd Coast, is also named for Thomas Budd.
History
Historically, the shores surrounding Budd Inlet were occupied by village sites of the Steh-Chass (or Stehchass),
Lushootseed-speaking peoples who became part of the post-treaty Squaxin Island Tribe.
Around 1850, American settlers founded the city of Olympia at the southern end of Budd Inlet.
Geography
Budd Inlet is long and has a maximum breadth of . The southern end of Budd Inlet is divided into two channels – West Bay and East Bay – by a peninsula that was
Land reclamation throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. The entrance to Budd Inlet is formed by two peninsulas: Cooper Point, and Boston Harbor, Washington.
and Budd Inlet, 1893]]The Deschutes River empties into West Bay just north of Tumwater Falls. The that existed here were dammed and submerged beneath Capitol Lake in 1949.
During , a deepwater shipping channel was dredged in East Bay to provide deep water access to the Port of Olympia, formed on November 7, 1922.
Ecology
The inlet is contaminated from historical industrial activity (such as
and
plywood manufacturing) taking place in the area over the past century.
Inlet sediment samples were found to contain
dioxins, dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pentachlorophenol, and metals such as mercury,
arsenic,
cadmium.
On May 15, 2025, as a result of a biotoxin which produces Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning being detected, the inlet was closed to recreational shellfish harvesting.
A significant cleanup and restoration project is currently underway, with construction estimated to begin in 2027.
See also
External links
