Olympia, city, capital of Washington State and seat of Thurston County, a port on Budd Inlet of Puget Sound at the mouth of the Deschutes River, in the western part of the state; incorporated 1859. It is a commercial, manufacturing, and shipping center. Major manufactures include wood products, processed food, metal and paper containers, and mobile homes. State and local government activities; tourism; fishing, especially for the famous Olympia oyster; and the Fort Lewis Military Reservation are also important to the city's economy, as is a large brewery in nearby Tumwater. Points of interest in Olympia include the State Capitol Museum, with collections of Native American artifacts, natural-history items, and fine art; Sylvester House (1856), the home of one of the area's first settlers; and the Capitol Group, built between 1911 and 1935, containing the Legislative Building, the Temple of Justice, and four additional government structures overlooking the harbor. Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks are nearby. The Evergreen State College (1967), St. Martin's College (1895), and a junior college are in the area.
Located in a region long inhabited by the Nisqually people, the community was settled by non-Native Americans in the late 1840s and called Smithfield. It was laid out about 1850 and renamed Olympia, for the scenic Olympic Mountains that can be viewed from the site. It was made the capital of Washington Territory in 1853 and became the state capital when Washington entered the union in 1889. A branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad reached here in the 1880s. Population 27,447 (1980); 33,840 (1990); 42,514 (2000).
