Olympia, Washington facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Olympia, Washington
State capital city
City of Olympia
(From top) Old Capitol Building, East Olympia, Interstate 5 at the junction of U.S. Route 101, Port of Olympia, Downtown from Capitol Lake, Washington State Capitol, Salmon sculpture, Mount Rainier, Olympic Mountains and Swantown Marina, Percival Landing Park
Nickname(s):  Oly
Location within Thurston County in Washington
Olympia, Washington Location in the United States
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Thurston
Incorporated	January 28, 1859
Named for	Olympic Mountains
Government
• Type	Council/City Manager
Area
• City	20.09 sq mi (52.02 km2)
• Land	18.23 sq mi (47.20 km2)
• Water	1.87 sq mi (4.82 km2)
Elevation	95 ft (29 m)
Population  (2020)	55 605
• Rank	US: 741st WA: 23rd
• Density	2,902.26/sq mi (1,120.58/km2)
• Urban	176,617 (US: 195th)
• Metro	286,419 (US: 169th)
Demonym(s)	Olympian
Time zone	Pacific
• Summer (DST)	Pacific
ZIP codes	98501-98599
Area code(s)	360, 564
FIPS code	53-51300
GNIS feature ID	1533353

Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is 60 miles (100 km) southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region.

European settlers claimed the area in 1846, with the Treaty of Medicine Creek initiated in 1854, followed by the Treaty of Olympia in 1856. Olympia was incorporated as a town on January 28, 1859, and as a city in 1882. It had a population of 55, 605 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the state's 24th-largest city. Olympia borders Lacey to the east and Tumwater to the south.

History

Old State Capitol Building and Sylvester Park

The site of Olympia has been home to Lushootseed-speaking peoples for thousands of years, including Squaxin, Nisqually, Puyallup, Chehalis, Suquamish, and Duwamish.

The first recorded visit by Europeans was in 1792 when Peter Puget and a crew from the British Vancouver Expedition charted the site. In 1846, Edmund Sylvester and Levi Smith jointly claimed the land that now comprises downtown Olympia. In 1851, the U.S. Congress established the Customs District of Puget Sound for Washington Territory and Olympia became the home of the customs house. Its population steadily expanded from Oregon Trail immigrants. In 1850, the town settled on the name Olympia, at the suggestion of local resident Colonel Isaac N. Ebey, due to its view of the Olympic Mountains to the Northwest. The area began to be served by a small fleet of steamboats known as the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.

In 1896, Olympia became the home of the Olympia Brewing Company, which brewed Olympia Beer until 2003.

The 1949 Olympia earthquake damaged many historic buildings beyond repair, and they were demolished. Parts of the city also suffered damage from earthquakes in 1965 and 2001.

In 1967, the state legislature approved the creation of The Evergreen State College in Olympia. Since 1984, Olympia has also been home to the South Puget Sound Community College. Olympia has become a hub for artists and musicians, and has been named one of the best college towns in the nation for its vibrant downtown and access to outdoor activities.

Recent mayors

Geography and climate

Astronaut Photography of Olympia Washington taken from the International Space Station (ISS)

Olympia is located at 47°2′33″N 122°53′35″W / 47.04250°N 122.89306°W / 47.04250; -122.89306 (47.042418, −122.893077).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.68 square miles (50.97 km²), of which 17.82 sq mi (46.15 km²) is land and 1.86 sq mi (4.82 km²) is water.

The city of Olympia is located at the southern end of Puget Sound on Budd Inlet. The Deschutes River estuary was dammed in 1951 to create Capitol Lake. Much of the lower area of downtown Olympia sits on reclaimed land. The cities of Lacey and Tumwater border Olympia.

The region surrounding Olympia has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb), whereas the local microclimate due to its dry summers and cool July and August overnight lows. It is part of USDA Hardiness zone 8a, with isolated pockets around Puget Sound falling under zone 8b. Most of western Washington's weather is brought in by weather systems that form near the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. It contains cold moist air, which brings western Washington cold rain, cloudiness, and fog. November through January are Olympia's rainiest months. City streets, creeks, and rivers often flood during the months of November through February. The normal monthly mean temperature ranges from 38.4 °F (3.6 °C) in December to 64.1 °F (17.8 °C) in August. Seasonal snowfall for 1981–2010 averaged 10.8 inches (27.4 cm) but has historically ranged from trace amounts in 1991–92 to 81.5 in (207 cm) in 1968–69. Olympia averages 50 inches (1,270 mm) of precipitation annually and has a year-round average of 75% cloud cover. Annual precipitation has ranged from 29.92 in (760 mm) in 1952 to 66.71 in (1,694 mm) in 1950; for water year (October 1 – September 30) precipitation, the range is 32.71 in (831 mm) in 2000–01 to 72.57 in (1,843 mm) in 1998–99. According to one MSNBC study, Olympia had more rainy days per year on average over the past 30 years than any other city in the lower 48 states. With a period of record dating back to 1948, extreme temperatures have ranged from −8 °F (−22 °C) on January 1, 1979, up to 104 °F (40 °C), most recently on July 29, 2009; the record cold daily maximum is 18 °F (−8 °C) on January 31, 1950, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is 69 °F (21 °C) on July 22, 2006. On average, there are 6.3 days annually with temperatures reaching 90 °F (32 °C), 1.8 days where the temperature stays at or below freezing all day, and 78 nights where the low reaches the freezing mark. The average window for freezing temperatures is October 8 through May 3, allowing a growing season of 157 days, nearly 100 days shorter than in nearby Seattle.

Parks

Olympia has a wide array of public parks and nature conservation areas. The Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area is a 600-acre (2.4 km²) parcel that preserves more than 5 miles (8.0 km) of Puget Sound waterfront along the Woodard and Chapman Bays of the Henderson Inlet. Percival Landing Park includes 0.9 miles (1.4 km) of boardwalk along Budd Inlet, as well as a playground, picnic areas, and a large open space. Percival Landing closed in 2010 for an extensive remodel after saltwater degradation and opened again to the public in the summer of 2011. The Watershed Park is the site of the former waterworks for the city and today features a loop trail with a large second-growth forest. Other parks include Priest Point Park, Burfoot Park, Sunrise Park, and Yauger Park, which is home to one of Olympia's public skate parks, including Friendly Grove, which is nestled in a small Eastside Community, and Trillium Park, which was created by the efforts of adjoining neighborhood associations with the easement of private property. The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is located just outside Olympia, as is the Capitol State Forest.

Artesian water

Olympia was historically dependent on artesian waters. Early settlers in Swantown and Tumwater used artesian springs for their main water supply. The artesian spring at Fourth Avenue and Main Street (now called Capitol Way) was the main community well where settlers gathered to socialize. The artesian well at Artesian Commons park, a former parking lot, is active. Another still flows at the corner of Olympia Avenue and Washington Street. A small park was constructed around another spring in the Bigelow Neighborhood. The northeast end of Capitol Lake was the location of an artesian well until the construction of a new park that included changes to the shoreline. McAllister Springs, the main water source for Olympia, is fed by artesian wells, and the former Olympia Brewery is supplied by 26 artesian wells.

Recent efforts to protect and preserve the free flowing artesian well on 4th Ave in downtown Olympia began in 1991 when Jim Ingersoll, a local psychologist, called on the city council to acquire the well and develop it as a community park. Ingersoll’s interest in the well started in a conversation with Dick Batdorf, co-founder of Batdorf and Bronson coffee roasting. Batdorf told Ingersoll that the secret to great coffee was great water – specifically artesian water. Subsequently, Ingersoll met at the Spar restaurant with Herb Legg and John Robinson both of whom had worked in the 1950s and 60s to protect the artesian wells in Watershed Park. Legg and Robinson worked behind the scenes to get an article published in the Olympian on February 24, 1992 calling for community support of the well. Ingersoll was flooded with phone calls offering time, talent, resources and money following the publication. Herb Legg and friends sponsored a public meeting at the Library where more than 50 people each donated $50. And a single $3000 donation followed the next day.

With hundreds of people using the well every day, community support grew to become “The Friends of Artesians,” an informal organization of advocates who over the course of 20 years mapped and researched the history of artesian wells in Olympia, raised money to test water quality and make improvements to the site and kept the vision of a free flowing community well alive. In the fall of 2008, The Friends announced they would stop testing the water quality after February 2009. These actions renewed interest in protecting the well and lead to the creation of H2Olympia, a non-profit organization.

In downtown Olympia, efforts to preserve the use of artesian water at the one remaining public well has been the mission of H2Olympia: Artesian Well Advocates. In 2011, the city of Olympia committed $50,000 towards improvements of an artesian well, located in a parking lot that was recently purchased by the city. Renovations at the artesian well were completed in late 2011, including surface improvements, solar lighting, and a raised area to fill bottles. In Spring of 2012, sea-themed mosaic artwork created by community members was also installed at the site of the well.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 46,478 people, 20,761 households, and 10,672 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,608.2 inhabitants per square mile (1,007.0/km²). There were 22,086 housing units at an average density of 1,239.4 per square mile (478.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.7% White, 2.0% African American, 1.1% Native American, 6.0% Asian, 0.4% Pacific Islander, 1.8% from other races, and 5.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.3% of the population.

There were 20,761 households, of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.2% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 48.6% were other families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.83.

The median age in the city was 38 years. 19.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 11.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.5% were from 25 to 44; 26.7% were from 45 to 64; and 13.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.3% male and 52.7% female.

Arts

The Capitol Theater, home of the Olympia Film Society.

Olympia is a regional center for fine arts. A number of theatrical experiences are available with companies such as Animal Fire Theater, Olympia Family Theater, Theater Artists Olympia (TAO), Olympia Little Theater, and Harlequin Productions at the historic State Theater. The Olympia Symphony Orchestra performs five regular season concerts at the Washington Center and two pop concerts. The Masterworks Chorale Ensemble performs four regular season concerts at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts.

Visual art venues include some of the local coffeehouses, Olympia Coffee Roasting Co., Batdorf & Bronson, Caffe Vita, and Obsidian in downtown. A gallery called Art House Designs presents works of sculpture, painting, and printmaking and hosts a jazz performance space. Murals and public art installations of sculpture are prevalent in Olympia and are especially featured on the State Capitol Campus and along Percival Landing on the urban waterfront. The Washington Center for the Performing Arts also presents visual art exhibitions throughout the season in the spacious lobby areas.

Notable art venues near Olympia include Art in Ecology, housed in Washington Department of Ecology's 322,000-square-foot, three-story building on the campus of Saint Martin's University. Art in Ecology is a long-established art-in-the-workplace venue that features works by numerous northwest artists. Permanent installations by Alfredo Arreguin, commissioned by the Washington State Arts Commission, are accompanied by changing solo and group exhibitions throughout the year. Appointments to view the works are needed; tours take about an hour.

The South Puget Sound Community College has a gallery in its Minnaert Center with rotating exhibitions. The Evergreen State College, northwest of Olympia, has a professionally curated gallery with rotating shows in the Dan Evans Library building. To the south of Olympia, Monarch Contemporary Art Center and Sculpture Park offers an 80-acre sculpture garden and art gallery.

Each year, the Olympia Film Society (OFS) produces a film festival and fosters film and video education in Olympia. It also shows independent, classic, and international films year-round at the art-deco Capitol Theater. A mostly volunteer-powered organization, OFS supports and presents a variety of cultural events, including All Freakin' Night, an all-night horror film screening with a cult following.

On the fourth Saturday in April, in honor of Earth Day, Olympia is host to one of the region's largest community celebrations – the Procession of the Species. Held in conjunction with the city's biannual Arts Walk, the Procession is organized by the community-based non-profit organization, Earthbound Productions, and is the culmination of an annual Community Art Studio that is free and open to the public. In its July 2009 Best of America feature, Reader's Digest magazine honored the Procession of the Species with the top spot in its “can’t resist” parades and processions list. Open to all, the Procession of the Species attracts up to 30,000 viewers, while its costumed participants of all ages frequently number nearly 3,000. On the Friday evening before the Procession of Species, a Luminary Procession is held.

Transportation

Rail

Amtrak provides service to Olympia-Lacey at Centennial Station. Amtrak train 11, the southbound Coast Starlight, departs Olympia at 11:21am with service to Centralia; Portland; Sacramento; Emeryville, California (with bus connection to San Francisco); and Los Angeles. Amtrak train 14, the northbound Coast Starlight, departs Olympia at 6:22pm daily with service to Tacoma and Seattle. Amtrak Cascades trains, operating as far north as Vancouver and as far south as Eugene, Oregon, serve Olympia-Lacey several times daily in both directions.

Bus

Intercity Transit Bus 920 on Route 12 to downtown Olympia

Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and the surrounding area are primarily served by Intercity Transit, with connections to Grays Harbor Transit, Mason Transit Authority, Pierce Transit, and Sound Transit. Intercity Transit maintains a free shuttle route called "Dash". Dash runs from the Capitol Campus to the Farmers Market at the far edge of downtown. Intercity Transit's Olympia Express provides service to Lakewood and Tacoma, with connections to regional bus and commuter rail service. In 2009 Intercity Transit won an award for America's best Public Transportation System in the midsize category by the American Public Transportation Association. The fleet runs entirely on biodiesel fuel and is composed of about 20% biodiesel-electric hybrid buses.

Airport

Olympia Regional Airport is just south of Olympia in Tumwater. It is operated by the Port of Olympia and serves general aviation as well as corporate aviation. The airport hosts the Olympic AirShow, a medium-sized airshow that occurs on Father's Day weekend each year.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Olympia is twinned with:

• Katō, Hyōgo, Japan.
• Nanchang, China (since 2010)
• Damascus, Syria.

There were previous agreements with Olympia, Greece and Samarkand, Uzbekistan but these are no longer in effect.

Economy

According to Olympia's 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the county's top employers are:

Sports

In 1984, Olympia hosted the U.S. Olympic women's marathon trial. The winner of the event was Joan Benoit, who won a gold medal at the first women's Olympic marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympic games in Los Angeles.

Olympia is the home of the Oly Rollers, the local women's flat track roller derby league whose travel team, the Cosa Nostra Donnas, were the 2009 national champions of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), winning the national Declaration of Derby tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Notable people

• US Soccer goalkeeper Kasey Keller was born in Olympia. He played for Seattle Sounders FC until 2011, after a long career in Europe.
• Entrepreneur Christopher Hedrick grew up in Olympia and was inducted into the Olympia High School Hall of Fame.
• Don Rich, lead guitarist for Buck Owens, was raised in Olympia.
• Grammy-winning musician Rickie Lee Jones attended high school in Olympia.
• Nathan and Aaron Weaver of Atmospheric Black Metal band Wolves in the Throne Room live in Olympia.
• Geoff Jenkins, Major League Baseball outfielder, was born in Olympia.
• Calvin Johnson, of the band Beat Happening and founder of Olympia-based record label K Records, lives in Olympia.
• Peter Kennedy, five-time national champion and 1952 Winter Olympics silver medalist in pairs figure skating, was born in Olympia.
• Kimya Dawson, singer-songwriter and member of The Moldy Peaches, is a resident of Olympia.
• Gary Toxel of the popular doo-wop group The Fleetwoods, whose hits included Come Softly to Me and Mr. Blue.
• USA Rugby player Scott LaValla was born and raised in Olympia and graduated from North Thurston High School. He later played for Stade Français in Paris, France.
• Artist Nikki McClure lives in Olympia.
• New York Times bestselling author Jim Lynch lives in Olympia.
• Kurt Cobain of the band Nirvana lived at 114 Pear St NE from 1987 to 1991.
• Colin O'Brady, endurance athlete and mountain climber, was born and grew up in Olympia.
• William Henry Mitchell, pioneer and sheriff

Images for kids

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  The "sprayground" at Woodruff Park on Olympia's westside

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  Plants for sale at the Olympia Farmers Market

See also

In Spanish: Olympia (Washington) para niños