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| City of Olympia | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country | United States | ||
| State | Washington | ||
| County | Thurston | ||
| Incorporated | January 28, 1859 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Doug Mah | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 18.5 sq mi (48.0 km²) | ||
| - Land | 16.7 sq mi (43.3 km²) | ||
| - Water | 1.8 sq mi (4.7 km²) | ||
| Elevation | 95 ft (29 m) | ||
| Population (2000) | |||
| - Total | 42,514 | ||
| - Density | 2,544.4/sq mi (982.3/km²) | ||
| Time zone | Pacific (UTC-8) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | Pacific (UTC-7) | ||
| ZIP codes | 98500-98599 | ||
| Area code(s) | 360 | ||
| FIPS code | 53-51300[1] | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 1533353[2] | ||
| Website: www.olympiawa.gov | |||
Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and is the county seat of Thurston County.[3] It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The city has a population of 44,800.[4] Olympia is a major cultural center of the Puget Sound region.
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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. It is also claimed to be the farthest point on The Oregon Trail.
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.
Olympia was once served by a small fleet of steamboats known as the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.
Pulp fiction writer Raymond Chandler sketchily described depression-era Olympia as a town with government buildings in his 1936 short story "Goldfish".
A 1949 earthquake damaged many historic buildings beyond repair, and they were demolished. Olympia suffered damage from earthquake tremors, in 1965 and 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.[5]
Olympia is located at (47.042418, -122.893077).[6]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.5 square miles (48.0 km²), of which, 16.7 square miles (43.3 km²) of it is land and 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²) 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 area of downtown Olympia sits on reclaimed land. The cities that border Olympia are Tumwater and Lacey.
The climate of Olympia is a Marine West Coast climate. Summers are relatively warm and sunny, but it is dark and overcast a majority of the time throughout the fall, winter, and Spring (229 days per year of 100% cloud cover). A lot of rain falls during that time (50.6 inches per year). November and December are the rainiest months. It is not uncommon to have local flooding during these months along with January. Although the winters are dark and rainy, they are not cold enough to have more than a few days of snow. Two inches is usually the biggest snow of the year.
The freezing season runs from about the middle of October through early May. There are many freezing nights and mornings. The Olympia area gets a lot of night and morning fog. During the freezing nights, fog will often put black ice on the roads.
There are windstorms that occur every year that bring power outages to Western Washington. The windstorm season runs from about the middle of October through the middle of March. About every decade comes a very big storm. The most recent real big storm was the December 14th and 15th Storm of 2006. It was later named the Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm. The storm brought hurricane-force wind gusts to Olympia. It knocked out power to 1.5 million people in the Northwest and killed 15 people.
| Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures[7] | ||||||||||||
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec High °F (°C) | 64 (17.7) | 73 (22.7) | 79 (26.1) | 87 (30.5) | 96 (35.5) | 101 (38.3) | 103 (39.4) | 104 (40) | 98 (36.6) | 90 (32.2) | 74 (23.3) | 64 (17.7) |
| Norm High °F (°C) | 44.4 (6.8) | 48.3 (9.0) | 53 (11.6) | 58.2 (14.5) | 64.6 (18.1) | 70 (21.1) | 76.1 (24.5) | 77 (25) | 71.7 (22.0) | 60.4 (15.7) | 49.6 (9.7) | 43.8 (6.5) |
| Norm Low °F (°C) | 31.8 (-0.1) | 32.6 (0.3) | 34.1 (1.2) | 36.5 (2.5) | 42 (5.5) | 46.4 (8) | 49.6 (9.7) | 49.5 (9.7) | 44.9 (7.2) | 38.9 (3.8) | 35.3 (1.8) | 32.1 (0.0) |
| Rec Low °F (°C) | -8 (-22.2) | -1 (-18.3) | 9 (-12.7) | 23 (-5) | 25 (-3.8) | 30 (-1.1) | 35 (1.6) | 33 (0.5) | 25 (-3.8) | 14 (-10) | -1 (-18.3) | -7 (-21.6) |
| Precip in. (mm) | 7.54 (191.5) | 6.17 (156.7) | 5.29 (134.4) | 3.58 (90.9) | 2.27 (57.6) | 1.78 (45.2) | 0.82 (20.8) | 1.1 (27.9) | 2.03 (51.6) | 4.19 (106.4) | 8.13 (206.5) | 7.89 (200.4) |
Olympia has a wide array of public parks and nature conservation areas. The Woodard Bay Natural Resource 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 .9 miles of boardwalk along Budd Inlet, as well as a playground, picnic areas and a large open space. The Watershed Park is the site of the former water works for the city, and today features a loop trail with a large second-growth forest. Other parks include Priest Point Park, Burfoot Park and Yauger Park, which is home to Olympia's only public skate park. The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is located just outside of Olympia, as is the Capitol State Forest.
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 42,514 people, 18,670 households, and 9,968 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,544.4 people per square mile (982.3/km²). There were 19,738 housing units at an average density of 1,181.3/sq mi (456.1/km²). 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. 15.0% were of German, 11.3% Irish, 10.0% English, 6.0% Norwegian and 5.3% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 91.6% spoke English, 2.9% Spanish and 1.7% Vietnamese as their first language.
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.
Olympia serves as the capital for the State of Washington. The bicameral Washington State Legislature is composed of a lower House of Representatives and an upper State Senate. The state is divided into 49 legislative districts of equal population, each of which elects two representatives and one senator. Representatives serve two-year terms, whilst senators serve for four years. There are no term limits. Currently, the Democratic Party holds majorities in both chambers.
Washington's executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. The current governor is Christine Gregoire, a Democrat who has been in office since 2005.
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 Olympia High School (originally known as William Winlock Miller High School), Capital High School, and Avanti High School. In the 07-08 school year OSD began a new program called the Parent Partnership Program, which provides more opportunities to homeschooling families. Olympia's online high school (ORLA, Olympia Regional Learning Academy) is also part of the same program. 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: Olympia Waldorf School, St. Michael School, Holy Family, and Evergreen Christian.
Alternative learning institutions located in Olympia include: NOVA School middle school, Avanti High School, and The Evergreen State College.
Olympia is a regional center for fine arts. A number of theater experiences are available with companies such as Capital Playhouse , 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. Many of the city's venues offer exceptional 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.
Olympia hosts the Procession of the Species parade in the Spring. This popular family parade features many members of the community dressed as the various species of the earth.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, 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.
Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and the surrounding area are primarily served by Intercity Transit, more commonly referred to as "IT" by locals. Routes from other transit services such as Grays Harbor Transit, Mason Transit, and the Tacoma/Lakewood Express with Pierce Transit. Intercity Transit maintains a free shuttle route called "Dash"[8]. Dash runs from the Capitol Campus to the Farmers Market at the far edge of downtown.
Olympia is remarkable for the number of creative individuals who have made Olympia their home. They include many musicians (such as Kurt Cobain, who wrote most of Nirvana's Nevermind while living in Olympia), cartoonists, actors, political activists and several athletes. Most of these people were drawn to Olympia by the Evergreen State college, and became famous later in life. 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.citation needed The band Sleater-Kinney is from Olympia and took its name from Sleater-Kinney Road, which briefly passes through the eastern part of the 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.[9] On April 18, 2007, the City Council voted against adopting the Gaza Strip town Rafah as sister city. [10]
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 in the Diamond Parking lot at Fourth Avenue and Jefferson Street is active, located in the parking lot of The Manium (421 4th Street). 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 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.[11]A short photo essay documenting Olympia's remaining public artesian wells can be viewed here.
Master pulp fiction writer Raymond Chandler once sent his pre-Philip 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, a smugglers' nest, the fictional Westport.
The band Hole wrote and recorded a song called "Olympia" (aka "Rock Star") on their album Live Through This (1994). The band Rancid wrote and recorded a song called "Olympia, WA" on their album ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995); this song was later (2003) covered by the band NoFX.
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