About 250 years ago in 1748, the only people that lived in Olympia were Native Americans. They called it "The Black Bear Place". It remained that way until 1841 when the U.S. Exploring Expedition came. It was lead by Charles Wikes, and he decided to name the bay Budd Inlet after Thomas A. Budd. The first American settlers to come were Levi Lathorp, and Edmund Sylvester. Edmund claimed the site for Olympia in 1846 and started designing the town in 1850. Olympia got it's name from the Olympic mountains. In 1853 the population was 996 people. In 1889 Washington became a state. Where the capital for Washington should be went through many city's: Vancouver, Steilacoom, Seattle, Tacoma, and Port Townsend. But it finally settled in Olympia. In 1911, 22 blocks were added to Olympia. Then 16 years later in 1927 the capital was completed. In 1944 an earthquake destroyed many buildings.

Many historic sites are found in Olympia such as: The Biglow house, the capital, the brewery, Sylvester park, the Oregon trail, and many many more.

Time line:

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