thumb|Purdy, Washington
Purdy is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place north of the city of Gig Harbor, and at the junction of Washington State Routes 16 and 302 on the northern boundary of Pierce County, Washington.
Purdy is on the shores of Burley Lagoon and Henderson Bay at the northern end of Carr Inlet in Puget Sound. The lagoon and bay are separated by a sandspit and the Purdy Bridge.
The Washington Corrections Center for Women, originally named the Purdy Treatment Center, is colloquially referred to as "Purdy", though it has a Gig Harbor address.
As of the 2020 census, Purdy had a population of 1,668.
History
Prior to white settlement, the area was inhabited by Native Americans<!--??of the Suquamish tribe-->, who fished and clammed on Henderson Bay.
In 1884, one Isaac Hawk sold of land for $23.75 (). The purchaser was logger and Civil War veteran Horace Knapp (born March 23, 1845, in Titusville, Pennsylvania; died February 1, 1913, in Gig Harbor, Washington), who subdivided the land into lots and blocks to form the town of Purdy. Knapp owned a floating logging camp on Burley Lagoon which included a cookhouse and bunks for the loggers.
A mill was built in 1885 by James Ashton, Joseph Purdy, William Rowland, and a Mr. Sherman on a small inlet of Burley Lagoon just down the hill from present day Peninsula High School. the latter sited on Knapp's floating camp from 1886 to 1895 after which the function transferred to Springfield (Wauna, Washington). as are clams.
The original schoolhouse was abandoned in the 1890s. In 1900, the second Purdy Schoolhouse was built to replace it on land (also donated by Knapp) located on Sherman Avenue (present-day 68th Avenue). Students spent every other semester at either the Purdy Schoolhouse, or the Wauna Schoolhouse to keep both schools active. The modern-day Peninsula High School now sits on the hill where one of the original schoolhouses was built.
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Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Purdy had a population of 1,668. The median age was 47.3 years. 20.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 29.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.9 males age 18 and over.
98.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.7% lived in rural areas.
There were 701 households in Purdy, of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 54.5% were married-couple households, 15.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.