North Olympia Thurston County, Washington
Mapped Location
North Olympia: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on North Olympia
- Feature Type: Place
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for North Olympia
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| North Olympia | Official |
Origin Notes and History of North Olympia
References to North Olympia that document the origin of its place name
OLYMPIA, capital of the State of Washington, at the head of Budd Inlet, in the northern part of Thurston County, of which it is also the county seat. The Indian name for the place was "Stu-chus-and." (J. A. Costello, The Siwash.) A variant of this Indian name was "Stitchas," meaning "bear's place." (Elias J. Payne, in Names MSS. Letter 219.) A small band of Indians lived there and were known as "Stehtsasamish." According to George Gibbs the site of the present Olympia was known to the Nisqually Indians as "Stehchass." (Bureau of American Ethnology, Handbook of American Indians, Volume II, page 636.) The first home of white men on Puget Sound was Nisqually House established by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1833. The first permanent American homes on Puget Sound were established by the party under the leadership of Michael Troutman Simmons in 1845. The name chosen for the settlement was "New Market." The name indicates that the Americans believed that they were beginning a rival of the market maintained by the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Companies at Nisqually House. Ambitions ran high for "New Market." A grist-mill and saw-mill were built to use the power of the falls in the Deschutes River. In 1846, Edmund Sylvester and Levi Lathrop Smith arrived. They were partners and together took up two half-sections of public land -- one near what was later known at Chamber's Prairie and the other at the head of Budd Inlet. These men soon concluded that the latter claim would become the site of an important settlement. One of the first names for the place was "Smithter," a combination of the partner's names. (Mrs. George E. Blankenship, Tillicum Tales of Thurston County, page 248.) However, "Smithfield" seems to have been more frequently used than "Smithter." (History of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon and Washington, Volume I, 312.) Mr. Smith was educated as a Presbyterian minister. He was a cultured but lonely sort of man afflicted with epilepsy. In the last election under the Provisional Government of Oregon he was elected a member of the Legislature. On going from his claim to "New Market" in his canoe, on his way to the Legislature, he was drowned, supposedly during an attack of his malady. His portion to the claim of "Smithter" or "Smithfield" reverted to his partner, Edmund Sylvester, who continued to cherish great hopes for his claim. Important events were crowded into the three years following Mr. Smith's death. One of the results of the gold rush to California was the purchase there of the brig Orbit by Edmund Sylvester, Benjamin F. Shaw, Isaac N. Ebey and S. Jackson, in which to make their way to Puget Sound. In the meantime, Mr. Simmons had sold his interests at "New Market" to Captain Clanrick Crosby for $35,000. He used that money to buy the Orbit, which he sent to San Francisco for a cargo of merchandise. At this point arose the name Olympia. Hubert Howe Bancroft quotes Elwood Evans, backed by Mr. Sylvester, that the name Olympia was obtained from the Olympic Mountains and was suggested by Isaac N. Ebey. (Works, Volume XXXI, page 16, note 36.) Later, Elwood Evans gave credit for the suggestion to Charles Hart Smith. (History of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon and Washington, Volume I., page 312.) Colonel Ebey was a man of reading and refinement. He suggested the Swiss name "Lake Geneva" for Lake Washington, and is most probably the one who suggested Olympia as the name of the new town. One interesting addition to the evidence is the fact that in his pioneer library was a copy of Olympia Fulvia Morata's Critical Observation on Homer. ("The Ebey Diary," in the Washington Historical Quarterly, Volume VIII., page 127.) Under the new name the town sprang into life. Mr. Simmons obtained a gift of land on which he built the first store. The Nisqually Journal under the date of April 25, 1851, declares, "a port of entry has been established at the City of Olympia."
Thurston County
- Beachcrest
- Belmore
- Bordeaux
- Boston Harbor
- Town of Bucoda
- Bush
- Carlyon Beach
- Chain Hill
- Delphi
- East Olympia
- Edgewater Beach
- Elizan Beach
- Essex
- Fir Tree
- Five Corners
- Four Corners
- Grand Mound
- Gravelly Beach
- Helsing Junction
- Independence
- Kellys Korner
- City of Lacey
- Lamberts Corner
- Littlerock
- Madrona Beach
- Marshville (historical)
- Maytown
- McIntosh
- Michigan Hill
- Mima
- Mushroom Corner
- Nisqually
- North Olympia
- North Yelm
- Offutt Lake
- City of Olympia
- Peterson Corner
- Plumb
- Puget
- City of Rainier
- Rignall
- Rochester
- Saint Clair
- Schneiders Prairie
- Skookumchuck
- South Bay
- South Union
- Sunnydale
- Sunrise Beach
- Sunset Beach
- Tanglewilde
- City of Tenino
- Thompson Place
- Tono
- City of Tumwater
- Union Mill
- Vail
- Western Junction
- City of Yelm
Political Boundaries
Last updated: 2016-10-01