| Burley, Washington | |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Washington#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Burley |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Washington and the United States |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Washington |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Kitsap |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Total Km2: | 12.73 |
| Area Land Km2: | 12.34 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.39 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 2081 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | Pacific (PST) |
| Utc Offset: | -8 |
| Timezone Dst: | PDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -7 |
| Elevation Ft: | 33 |
| Coordinates: | 47.4181°N -122.6294°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 98322 |
| Area Code: | 360 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 53-08885 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 1512051[1] |
Burley is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is located just north of the boundary with Pierce County, about halfway between Gig Harbor to the south and Port Orchard to the north. It is located at the head of the Burley Lagoon in Henderson Bay. Burley is a residential area. The community's population stood at 2,081 at the 2020 census.[2]
Burley was established in 1898 as a cooperative socialist colony[3] 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.[3]
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,[3] 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.[3]
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 9miles to Port Orchard and south 7miles to Gig Harbor. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Burley CDP has a total area of 12.7sqkm, of which 12.3sqkm are land and 0.4sqkm, or 3.04%, are water.