Throughout 2023 we’ll be exploring the origins of area place names. Woodard Bay and Woodard Avenue are named for Harvey and Salome Woodard, and their three sons, who first settled in what is now Woodard Bay on Henderson Inlet. They lived there for only a short time, moving to Olympia before 1860. Son Alonzo Bixby Woodard, pictured here, became a dentist and photographer, and lived on West Bay Drive. His home is on the local heritage register. Photograph selected and captioned by Deborah Ross, Olympia Historical Society.
possible self-portrait, around 1870; Courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society