Dungeness, Washington

Dungeness, Washington
Unincorporated community
Dungeness Spit at dusk
Dungeness Location within the state of Washington
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Clallam
Time zone	Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)

Dungeness is an unincorporated community in Clallam County, Washington, United States, located north of Sequim. Dungeness crab is named after the town of Dungeness, which is located on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Dungeness has a number of waterfront residential communities, but also features the Dungeness Spit, a popular destination for locals and tourists.

The name "Dungeness" refers to the Dungeness headland in England. It was given by George Vancouver in 1792, who wrote: "The low sandy point of land, which from its great resemblance to Dungeness in the British Channel, I called New Dungeness."

The West Coast's first commercial fishery, mainly producing Dungeness crabs, was built in 1848 in Dungeness.

Smaller communities within the Dungeness area include Old Town, which is located near the Cline Spit, and Jamestown, located around Jamestown Road. Jamestown is named after the S'Klallam (Jamestown) tribe.

The 3 Crabs

One of the main attractions of Dungeness was The 3 Crabs restaurant. Founded in 1958, it was once considered a premier restaurant in the northwest and was a favorite locally, until it closed in October 2012.

It is the home of Nash's Organic Farm, which raises organic vegetables and is one of the premier organic farms in Western Washington.

It is also the home of Five Acre School, a private Montessori school going from preschool to 6th grade.

It is also home of Olympic Lavender Heritage Farm, which is an 11-acre USDA certified organic lavender farm spread out over 3 farm locations in Dugneness. It started in 1995 and is one of the premier organic farms in the U.S, home of the Olympic Lavender Festival and on of many farms featured during the annual Sequim Lavender Farm Tour in July and annual Tour de Lavender Metric Century Ride in August.

Recreational areas in and near Dungeness include Cline Spit and the Dungeness Recreation Area and Wildlife Refuge containing many excellent trails. It also contains the world-renowned Dungeness Spit, Washington state's longest natural sand spit. Crab flourish in Dungeness Bay, and crabbing is a popular local pastime.

The Dungeness Spit is also home to the New Dungeness Light House. Completed in 1857, the light house was the first along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The adjoining house was constructed in 1895. The light house tower was originally 100 feet (30 m) tall, but this was reduced to 63 feet (19 m) in 1927 due to the deteriorating upper structure. The light house was manned by the Coast Guard until 1994, when the site was leased to the New Dungeness Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society.