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'Olympia' is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 42,514. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County and the focal point of the South Puget Sound region[1].

Contents

History

Geography and climate

Demographics

Schools and universities

The arts

Rail transportation

Famous residents

Sister city

Artesian water

Trivia

See also

External links

History

Main articles: History of Olympia, Washington


The site of Olympia was 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 the 1840s, Edmund Sylvester and Levi Smith jointly claimed the land that now comprises downtown Olympia. In 1853 the town settled on the name Olympia due to its view of the Olympic Mountains to the northwest.
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. Olympia is often associated with the Olympia Brewing Company, which from 1896-2003 brewed Olympia Beer. A 1949 earthquake damaged many historic buildings beyond repair, and they were demolished. In 1965 and 2001, Olympia suffered damage from significant temblors, including the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.
In 1967, the state legislature approved the creation of The Evergreen State College near Olympia. Because of the college's presence, Olympia has become a hub for artists and musicians, and was recently named one of the best college towns in the nation for its vibrant downtown and access to outdoor activities.^[1]

Geography and climate

Olympia is located at (47.042418, -122.893077).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 48.0 km² (18.5 mi²). 43.3 km² (16.7 mi²) of it is land and 4.7 km² (1.8 mi²) of it (9.77%) is water.
The city of Olympia is located at the southern end of Puget Sound on Budd Inlet. The Deschutes River estuary at Olympia has been dammed to create Capitol Lake. Much of the lower areas of downtown Olympia is reclaimed land.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rec High °F	64	73	79	87	96	101	103	104	98	90	74	64
Norm High °F	44.4	48.3	53	58.2	64.6	70	76.1	77	71.7	60.4	49.6	43.8
Norm Low °F	31.8	32.6	34.1	36.5	42	46.4	49.6	49.5	44.9	38.9	35.3	32.1
Rec Low °F	-8	-1	9	23	25	30	35	33	25	14	-1	-7
Precip (in)	7.54	6.17	5.29	3.58	2.27	1.78	0.82	1.1	2.03	4.19	8.13	7.89
''Source: USTravelWeather.com [2]''

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 42,514 people, 18,670 households, and 9,968 families residing in the city. The population density was 982.3/km² (2,544.4/mi²). There were 19,738 housing units at an average density of 456.1/km² (1,181.3/mi²). The ethnic makeup of the city is 85.26% White, 1.90% African American, 1.30% Native American, 5.82% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 1.68% from other cultural backgrounds, and 3.76% from two or more ethnicities. 4.38% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any ethnicities.
There were 18,670 households out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the city, the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,846, and the median income for a family was $54,136. Males had a median income of $41,267 versus $31,515 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,590. About 6.9% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Schools and universities

Olympia's main public school district is the Olympia School District. Olympia School District enrolled 9,231 students in K-12, based on the 2005-06 school year enrollment report. The school district has a total of 18 schools: 11 elementary schools, 4 middle schools and 3 high schools. Its high schools are William Winlock Miller High School (also known as Olympia High School), Capital High School (Washington), and Avanti High School. NOVA Middle School is an independent middle school residing within Olympia, but it is not part of the Olympia School District.
In addition to primary schools Olympia has a number of institutions of higher learning, including The Evergreen State College, South Puget Sound Community College, and St. Martin's University in adjacent Lacey, Washington.
Private elementary schools include: St. Michael School, Holy Family, Evergreen Christian. There are plans for a new Catholic high school to be built in the area soon as well.

The arts

Olympia is a regional center for fine arts. A number of theater experiences are available with companies such as Capital Playhouse , Theater Artists Olympia (TAO), Olympia Little Theater, and Harlequin Productions [3] at the historic State Theater. The Olympia Symphony Orchestra performs regularly at the Washington Center. Many of the city's venues offer high quality entertainment.
Each year the Olympia Film Society (OFS) produces a nationally-recognized 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 culture events, including All Freakin' Night, an all-night horror film screening with a cult following.

Rail transportation

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Olympia-Lacey. 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.

Famous residents

Main articles: List of people who lived in Olympia, Washington

Olympia is remarkable for the number of creative individuals who have made Olympia their home. They include many musicians, cartoonists and actors, as well as many political activists, such as musician Kurt Cobain, and activist Rachel Corrie, and several athletes. A great number of influential politicians have also lived in Olympia, due to its location as the Washington state capital. Ted Nugent has a house there as well as Bob Barker and George Munro.^[] The band Sleater-Kinney is from Olympia and took its name from Sleater-Kinney Road in Lacey, just east of the city.

Sister city

Olympia has one sister city – Kato, Japan. There were previous agreements with Olympia, Greece and Samarkand, Uzbekistan but these are no longer in effect.[4] On April 18, 2007, the City Council voted against adopting the Gaza Strip town Rafah as sister city.[5]

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 Diamond Parking lot at Fourth Avenue and Jefferson Street is active, located in a parking lot where a store was once situated. Another still flows at the corner of Olympia Avenue and Washington Street in the Bigelow Neighborhood. The northeast end of Capitol Lake was the location of an artesian well until the creation of the lake. McAllister Springs, the main water source for Olympia, is fed by artesian wells, and the former Olympia Brewery is supplied by 26 artesian wells.^[2]

Trivia

★ The punk rock band Rancid included a song about Olympia titled "Olympia, WA" on their album ...And Out Come the Wolves.

★ Hole included a song about Olympia entitled "Olympia" (albeit mistitled on the album jacket as "Rock Star") on their album Live Through This.

★ Master pulp fiction writer Raymond Chandler once sent his pre-Marlowe sleuth Carmady to Olympia, in 1936 set short story "Goldfish". Depression-era town with government buildings sketchily described. The yarn ends violently on the extreme tip of Olympic Peninsula, in prohibition time smugglers nest (fictional) Westport.

★ Kurt Cobain wrote most of Nirvana's ''Nevermind'' while living in Olympia.

See also

★ The Evergreen State College - Higher education institution in Olympia

★ Capitol LakeFair - Annual festival in Olympia

★ Olympia Airport - Located in Olympia

★ CommonAction - Nonprofit organization located in Olympia

★ Olympia music scene

★ Music of Washington

★ Cascadia

★ Port Militarization Resistance

★ Bigelow Neighborhood

★ Bigelow House

★ Olympia High School (Washington)

External links

★ City of Olympia

★ State of Washington

★ Olympia's Procession of the Species Celebration

★ OlyBlog, Olympia hyperlocal news and events