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Home
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Northwest
Washington
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The Olympia,
WA Area
The Cities of Lacey,
Olympia, Tenino, and Tumwater
Olympia
is the Capital of Washington State. Olympia is located on Budd Inlet, the extreme south end
of Puget Sound about 24 miles south of Tacoma,
WA and 56 miles south of Seattle.
At Olympia, Interstate-5 heads south
away from Puget Sound toward Portland,
OR.
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Cities
Highways
Olympia
Restaurants
Lodging
City Page
RV/Camping
Interstate-5
Centralia
Restaurants
Lodging
City Page
Chehalis
Restaurants
Lodging
City Page
Castle Rock
Restaurants
Lodging
City Page
Interstate-5
Kelso / Longview
Restaurants
Lodging
City Page
Interstate-5
Vancouver, WA
Restaurants
Lodging
City Page
Interstate-5
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This page covers
all of Thurston County including the cities of; Lacey, Olympia, Rainier,
Rochester, Tenino, Tumwater, and Yelm.
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Prior to settlement, Budd Inlet was a favorite shellfish
gathering site for the Coastal Salish tribes, including the Nisqually and
the Duwamish.
When settlers first settled on Budd Inlet in the 1840’s
they named their community Smithfield. In 1850 a gentleman named Edmund
Sylvester platted the town of Olympia. It hosted the first customs house in the
Northwest and the city was renamed by Isaac Ebey,
a resident of Olympia, after the beautiful Olympic Mountains to the northwest of the city.
Sylvester was a native of Maine
and he laid out the city in the New England
style with land for schools, a town square, wide tree lined streets and
even a Masonic Hall.
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 The
Washington State Capitol building is located on a hill in the south end of
the town overlooking Budd Inlet. The
dome of the Capitol
Building can be seen
from Interstate-5. The 287 foot high
masonry dome of the Capitol
Building is one of
the largest in the world. It was
completed in 1928.
Photo from the Washington State General Administration
visitor web site. http://www.ga.wa.gov/visitor/
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Museums and Attractions
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Washington State
Capital Museum
211 West 21st
Avenue
Olympia,
WA 98501
Phone: 360-753-2580
http://www.washingtonhistory.org/wscm/
From their web site, “The museum is dedicated to
preserving and interpreting the history and culture of Washington (State)”.
The two floor museum has displays on Native American
history, the building of the capitol building, and other temporary
exhibits.
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The Northern Pacific Depot
Tenino
Graphic from the Museum web site
Courtesy
of the South Thurston County
Historical Society
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The Tenino Depot
Museum
399 Park
Avenue W
Tenino,
WA 98589
Phone: 360-264-4637
http://www.ci.tenino.wa.us/museum.htm
The building is the historic Northern Pacific Railroad
Depot built in 1914 in Tenino. It
was one of the stops for passenger trains running between Seattle
and Portland. In 1965 the railroad sold the building to
the City and it was moved about 10 blocks to a city Park
to become a museum.
The museum displays logging, pioneer, and railroad
memorabilia. It even has a 1920’s doctors office.
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Wolf Haven
This nationally recognized non-profit sanctuary is
located on 80 acres. Wolf Haven has
guided walking tours every hour.
They are about one hour in duration.
They educate the public about wolves, coyotes and foxes.
They have interactive, hands-on educational
presentations. See their web site
for hours.
http://www.wolfhaven.org/
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Photo from the Bigelow House
Museum website.
http://www.bigelowhouse.org/
Open Memorial Day through Labor Day
Saturday and
Sunday Noon to 4:00 PM
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Bigelow House Museum
The Bigelow House is the
oldest residence in Olympia. The house was build
by Daniel Bigelow and is wife Ann Elizabeth White Bigelow in the 1850’s.
The home contains a wonderful
collection of original furnishings, personal belongings, and photos.
The house was opened as a
public Museum in 1995. Visitors may
visit the main floor and the remaining acre of the original 160 acre land claim. The remainder of the original claim is
now a historic neighborhood.
Bigelow House
Museum
918 glass Avenue NE
Olympia, WA 98506
Mailing address
PO Box
1821
Olympia, WA 98507
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Chehalis Western Trail
From the V&C Bureau, listed below, “The historic
Weyerhaeuser-owned Chehalis Western Railroad, which operated from 1926
through the mid-1980's, has now become the Chehalis Western Trail. The
trail runs north-south through the heart of Thurston
County and features access to the
Puget Sound, Chambers Lake, the Deschutes River,
wetlands, forests, farmland, creeks, prairies, and other habitats.
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Mileage markers are every 1/2 mile on the Chehalis
Western Trail and run North to South beginning at Woodard Bay
on the northern portion of the State Department of Natural Resources owned
section of the Chehalis Western Trail. Thurston
County's portion starts at mile
marker 6.5 at the Chambers
Lake trailhead.
Estimated mileage: Chambers Lake Trailhead to junction with Yelm-Tenino
Trail: 14 miles Chambers Lake to downtown Rainier:
16 miles.”
Visit the Chehalis Western Trail web page
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The Olympic Flight Museum
Olympia Regional
Airport
7637A Old Highway 99 SE
Olympia, WA 98501
Phone: 360-705-3925
Visit their web site for
further information
http://www.olympicflightmuseum.com/
Exhibit
Hours:
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Additional Information
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Olympia / Thurston County
Visitor & Convention Bureau
http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/tc_tourist_information.htm
City of Olympia
Community Page
http://olympiawa.gov/
You’ll find a mile long waterfront boardwalk in Olympic
at Percival Landing that you can walk along and get the feel of the South
Sound and Olympia’s
port activity.
You won’t want to miss Olympia’s Farmers Market. You’ll fid
organic produce, seafood, flowers, fresh bread, eggs, cheese, and much more
at the Market.
http://www.olympiafarmersmarket.com/
You will find this and more, including the State Capitol
in Olympia.
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City of Tumwater
http://www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/
The City has History and Visitors information on their
web site.
Tumwater Chamber of Commerce
http://www.tumwaterchamber.com/
The first American community north of the Columbia River.
Founded in 1845. Tumwater
lies just south of Olympia
and it most recognizable landmark is the Olympic Brewery east of and
visible from Interstate-5. You will
find the pioneer spirit in Washington’s
first community. There are
interpretive markers in the Tumwater’s Historic Downtown and peace and quite walking the trails in the Deschutes River
Canyon.
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City of Lacey
http://www.ci.lacey.wa.us/
The people of Lacey love the outdoors and that is reflected
in their 425 acres of public parks and the 3,700 acre Nisqually National
Wildlife Refuge along the eastern border of the town. As if that isn’t enough, they have three
freshwater lakes and four golf courses.
Lacey is located northeast of Olympia.
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City of Tenino
http://www.ci.tenino.wa.us/
In 1851 Stephen Hodgden settled in what was to become Tenino.
Today you will find a peaceful
small town with a great Saturday Farmers market during the summer months.
http://www.teninofarmersmarket.org/
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