OLYMPIA  , the

capital of the state of Washington, U.S.A., and the county-seat of Thurston county, on the Des Chutes river and Budd's Inlet, at the head of Puget Sound, about 50 M . S.S.W. of Seattle . Pop . (1890) 4698; (1900) 3863, of whom 591 were foreign-born; (191o; U . S. census) 6996 . It is served by the Northern Pacific and the Port Townsend Southern railways, and by steamboat lines to other ports on the Sound and along the Pacific coast . Budd's Inlet is spanned here by a wagon bridge and a railway bridge . Among the prominent buildings are the Capitol, which is constructed of native sand-stone and stands in a park of considerable beauty, the county court-house, St Peter's hospital, the governor's mansion and the city hall The state library is housed in the Capitol . At Tumwater, the oldest settlement (1845) on Puget Sound, about 2 M . S. of Olympia, are the Tumwater Falls of the Des Chutes, which provide good water power . The city's chief industry is the cutting, sawing and dressing of lumber obtained from the neighbouring forests . Olympia oysters are widely known in the Pacific coast region; they are obtained chiefly from Oyster Bay, Skookum Bay, North Bay and South Bay, all near Olympia .

Olympia was laid out in 1851, became the capital of Washington in 1853, and was chartered as a city in 1859 .