Case Inlet

<p>Case Inlet, in southern <a href="/facts/Puget_Sound/A7TgLsHA">Puget Sound</a> in the <a href="/facts/U.S._state/PFwcRIYQ">U.S. state</a> of <a href="/facts/Washington_(state)/7tCrTFnN">Washington</a>, is an arm of water between <a href="/facts/Key_Peninsula/LsbVdr2K">Key Peninsula</a> to the east and <a href="/facts/Harstine_Island%2c_Washington/qLvs3xYC">Harstine Island</a> to the west. Its northern end, called North Bay, reaches nearly to <a href="/facts/Hood_Canal/hDaDdh6U">Hood Canal</a>, creating the defining <a href="/facts/Isthmus/1tNMsL1r">isthmus</a> of <a href="/facts/Kitsap_Peninsula/ceUI3r27">Kitsap Peninsula</a>. Case Inlet is the boundary between <a href="/facts/Pierce_County%2c_Washington/rFALSuo2">Pierce County</a> and <a href="/facts/Mason_County%2c_Washington/0P43USWh">Mason County</a>. The southern end of Case Inlet connects to <a href="/facts/Nisqually_Reach/CI8QMdnl">Nisqually Reach</a>, part of the southern basin of Puget Sound. <a href="/facts/Herron_Island/ntuGTW4y">Herron Island</a> lies in Case Inlet.
</p><p>Case Inlet was named by <a href="/facts/Charles_Wilkes/ufXUzQmK">Charles Wilkes</a> of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Exploring_Expedition/yLq8Cstn">Wilkes Expedition</a> of 1838–1842, to honor Augustus L. Case, one of the expedition's officers.  From the 1870s to the 1920s, transportation needs of the communities along Case Inlet were served by a <a href="/facts/Case_Inlet_steamboats/Se4owpIo">small flotilla of steamboats</a>.
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Case Inlet open-in-new

Case Inlet