Purdy is a small unincorporated community north of the city of Gig Harbor, on the northern boundary of Pierce County, Washington. It is located on the shores of Burley Lagoon and Henderson Bay of the Carr Inlet. The two bodies of water are separated by a sandspit and the Purdy Bridge.In the 1880s, the community was named for a Tacoma, Washington businessman who donated the materials to construct a schoolhouse for the community. Joseph W. Purdy was a grocer by trade.