THE WEST 8H0RE.
THE CAPITAL OP WASHINGTON.
'-Mi, 5
NE of the oldest established
towns in Washington Terri
I tory was located at the very
head of Paget sound, at the
J head of that small arm of the
flft -VAi BOaD(1 known as Budds inlet,
uJlMF an named Olympia. The
DesChutes river, flowing from
the southeast, discharges its
waters at that point, and on
the east bank of that stream
and the inlet where they join
the city of Olympia was platted.
The earliest settlement was made
at Tumwater, a town adjoining
Olympia on the south, but the peo
ple seemed to prefer the location on the inlet, so Olym
pic came into existence and grew beyond its compan
ion town. In 1851 the plat of the city was surveyed,
and two years later, when Washington Territory was
detached from Oregon and a government organized,
Olympia was selected as its capital city. This brought
the place into public notice and it enjoyed a fair pe
riod of growth, so that for a number of years it was
the chief city of the territory then popularly sup
posed to be a vast extent of wilderness and waste,
each as forbidding as the other and neither consid
ered very inviting save by the few pioneers who were
acquainted with them. In 1859 Olympia was duly
incorporated a city and since then it has had a steady
and substantial growth. At the present time it has a
population of between four thousand and five thou
sand souls, and it appears to be on the eve of a very
promising growth; indeed, just now Olympia is com
manding more attention than any other town of simi
lar characteristics in the west At first view Olym
pia impresses one with an indefinable charm that in
quite irreBi'stable. Approaching it by boat the whole
town comes into view at once, located on a hillside that
lopes down to the water's edge. The city bUiiiIh out
to advantage in the setting of dense green, which the
heavily-timbered shores of Budds inlet furnish. The
long bridge extending across to the western shore,
the mills and wharves and business blocks, the resi
dences farther back on the hill, the wide and well
kept streets, all impress the stranger favorably, and
are the strongest persuasion that could ' employd
to induce visitors to examine tho city and to l)"
tW. West of the center there is a d. 1""1"" '"
the surface, and then, what is knowu m the east M
n the gentle slope facing tho water and Hi"
I'Hrt of the town.
IVobably tho motive that induced thosi'ttl-mci..
at that point at so early a dato was to get m near the
resources of tho interior at possible and still have
deep water communication. Tho only transportation
facilities in tho Pacific northwest at that period were
what the water furnished, or by pack trail overland,
and tho former was universally preferred to tho Ut
ter. Tho Tumwater falls also furnished an abnn
dance of water power, which it was naturally calcu
lated would bo turned to account in manufacturing
the raw products which tho country afforded. This
admirable power and the location at tho head of deep
water navigation in tho very heart of so rich a couu
try as Western Washington, could scarcely have leon
betterdosignedfortho growth of a city of itnortanc
It is surrounded by all tho natural advantages that
could bo desired. Probably tho fact that it is not tho
commercial metropolis today can lx attributed to
tho chango of tho baso of operations which occurred
when tho northwest was invaded by railroads and tho
region bad to faco about aud do business from anoth
er standpoint than that originally designed. This
chango mado necessary a readjustment, in which tho
railroad towns, of course, had a tomorary advantage.
Olympia was unfortunate, in not being on any great
railroad line, while aoino resources upon which it de
pended for its growth were tapjed from tho iutnrior
and led away in tho opposite direction. To regain
control of tho situation aud command its just share
of patronage of the region has boon rather slow work,
but it has been so fully accomplished that tho city's
prospects for rapid advancement worn never so good
as at tho present time. Tho confidence which Is es
tablished in all branches of business is contagious
and it drawing capital and eoplo from abroad to lo
cate there. Tho real estate market is vory activo and
the eagerness with which tho various additions aro
bought by people anxious to erect homes promises a
rapid eiteniion of tho city's area and an Inevitable
increase of its jtopulatioD and commoraclal import
auce. It may I said that there, is not a vacant resl
deuce in the city and some buildings are occupied I,
fore th" doors or windows are put In. Business ro
Uprises are projected fully In kping with tho In
creasing pulation of tho city, and their consumma
tion will bring Olympia prominently to ths front
The manufacturing institutions of Olympls now
i ration includn thro saw mills, a planing mill,
n wooden wat-r pi factory, a brewery and many
.mailer concerns, such as blacksmiths', gunsmiths',
h,n-..sa makers', tinsmiths' and milliners' shops, car.
H-utrr.' and builders' aud fl.h curing establishments,
(t(. tint furnish employment to many hands. Ths
,,, y thin .sh-lll w"'ln I'h" for 'W1
tl.r enduiu that ar manufactured in the United
ij.. s are thus turned out of tho Olympls factory.