Burley

History

Burley was established in 1898 as a cooperative socialist colony by a group called the Co-operative Brotherhood, an offshoot of the Brotherhood of the Co-operative Commonwealth that had established Equality Colony elsewhere in Washington state in the previous year. Both communities were part of an attempt to plant socialist colonies in Washington in order to convert first the state, and then the entire nation, to socialism. Burley was originally named "Brotherhood". Circle City was an area of the colony with buildings laid out on the periphery of a circle. In its earliest years the community achieved a maximum population of approximately 150, but like some other planned towns of the era such as Equality Colony, its population endured a long decline through the ensuing years. The local economy was dominated by the lumber industry; other businesses never flourished, though a cigar-manufacturing effort did achieve some short-term success.

Geography

Burley is in southern Kitsap County. It is bordered to the south by the Pierce County communities of Wauna and Purdy. Washington State Route 16 passes through the eastern side of Burley, leading north to Port Orchard and south to Gig Harbor. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Burley CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 3.04%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  29,808
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  26,992
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  26,847
• Spotted Towhee

  Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  24,214
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  24,063
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  19,904
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  19,873
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  19,637

Most recent

• M 2.51 — 2026-08-09
  11 km SSW of River Road, Washington
• M 3.8 — 2026-07-02
  2 km E of Oak Harbor, Washington
• M 2.5 — 2026-06-26
  11 km E of Carnation, Washington
• M 2.87 — 2026-06-08
  2 km ESE of Oak Harbor, Washington
• M 2.84 — 2026-05-27
  4 km W of Wauna, Washington
• M 2.52 — 2026-03-17
  7 km SE of Mineral, Washington