Ira Ward

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Ward Lake, in southeast Olympia, is named for Ira Ward, Jr., pictured here, and Jane (Stimson or Simpson) Ward. They were very early settlers in Thurston County. Ira Ward erected the first sawmill on the nearby Deschutes River, in what is now Tumwater. He was a member of the first territorial legislature. 

Undated portrait, courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympia 2023

Pumping Station

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Watershed Park is named for the abundant water resources at the location in southeast Olympia. The natural springs here form the headwaters of Moxie Creek. For many years Olympia took most of its municipal water supply from here. This painting by artist Edward Lange shows its pumping station. Remnants still exist in the park. The watershed was permanently preserved as a park in 1955.  

Edward Lange painting, courtesy City of Olympia

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

Ed Henderson

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Henderson Boulevard, which flanks Watershed Park in southeast Olympia, is named for developer and city booster Ed Henderson. Henderson developed the nearby Wildwood subdivision. He was a member of the Washington State Legislature and son of Olympia evangelist Harriet Henderson and teacher John L. Henderson 

Foshaug Studios (detail), 1949, Washington State Archives, House of Representatives Group Photos, image AR-01214002-ph000092

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

Frederick Xenophon Jacob Miller

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Millersylvania State Park is named for the Miller family, who donated the land for the park in 1921. Pictured here is the family’s son Frederick Xenophon Jacob Miller, a prolific poet and author. 

unknown photographer, courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical  Society, catalog 2015.0.301

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

David Shelton

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Shelton, Washington, was named for Mason County settler David Shelton, pictured here, who served in the Washington Territorial legislature. 

Rogers Photo, about 1889, Courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1952.226.39

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

Thomas Huntamer

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Huntamer Park in Lacey is named in honor of Thomas Huntamer, who served for over a decade as a member of Lacey’s City Council, beginning with its incorporation in 1966. He served as Lacey’s mayor in 1973.  

Courtesy the City of Lacey

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

Charles Mason

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Mason County is named for Charles H. Mason. Mason was Washington’s first Territorial Secretary, serving from the territory’s formation in 1853 until 1859. 

unknown photographer, courtesy Washington State Historical Society, catalog 1943.42.11634

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

Cain family

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Cain Road in Southeast Olympia is named for the Cain family. The family settled in the area of Cain Road in the early 1900s and engaged in farming. Pictured here are Charles and Oma Cain, with their granddaughter Linda. I

Courtesy the Cain family

Text © The Olympian and Deborah Ross 2023

The Trosper Family

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Trosper Road in Tumwater was named for the Trosper family. The John Samuel and Mary (Conger) Trosper family, pictured here, arrived here from Kansas in 1892. Along with other area residents, they built the first county dirt and gravel road between Tumwater and Black Lake. Their descendants continue to reside on the remaining homestead property. 

Photo Courtesy Don Trosper

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

William McLane

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Pictured here in a charcoal portrait is early settler William McLane. He and his wife Martha McLeod McLane lent their name to a creek, school, fire district and grange. McLane served for six terms in the Washington Territorial Legislature. 

Charcoal portrait, Courtesy Washington State Historical Society, Capital Museum collection, catalog C1961.1731.1

Text © Deborah Ross and the Olympian 2023

Olympia Country and Golf Club in Lacey 1920s

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Golf Club Road in Lacey is named for the Olympia Country and Golf Club, later the Mountain View Golf Course, that once existed at the current site of the Panorama retirement community. Pictured here are golfers at the starting tee. In the background is the clubhouse, which once was the homestead of settlers David and Elizabeth Harrison Chambers. 

Mildred Kearney Collection, 1920, Courtesy Lacey Museum

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

A.H. Chambers

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. The Chambers family, early settlers, lent their name to a prairie, lake, school, and grange in Thurston County, not to mention a world-class golf course in Pierce County. Pictured here is Andsworth Chambers, son of David and Elizabeth Harrison Chambers. He served as Olympia mayor for several terms, and built the Chambers Block at Fourth Avenue and Capitol Way (then Main Street). 

Olympia Tribune 1891 Souvenir Edition, Washington State Library

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

Maybelle Tilley (Countess Stavra)

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Tilley Road in south Thurston County is named for the Tilley family, early settlers. Abram Tilley operated a hotel near Tenino. His son, Moses Rice Tilley, operated a livery stable at the corner of State and Capitol (then Third and Main). Pictured here is Moses and Sarah Hodgdon Tilley’s daughter, Maybelle. She was a celebrated international beauty, and married twice, the second time to an alleged Greek Count Stavra, hence her married title Countess Stavra. 

George Bain photo, Library of Congress collection, undated

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

William Owen Bush

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. The family of George and Isabella Bush arrived in Thurston County in 1844, among the first non-Indigenous American settlers. Bush Prairie, five miles south of Olympia, is named for the family, as is Tumwater’s Bush Middle School. Pictured here is son William Owen Bush. He was a noted agriculturalist and legislator, the first mixed-race member of the Washington Legislature. 

Aldrich Photo, 1900, courtesy Washington State Historical Society, Capital Museum Collection, catalog 2015.0.75

Text © The Olympian and  Deborah Ross 2023

Michael T. Simmons

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Simmons Street, in Olympia, is named for the Simmons family, early settlers in Thurston County. Michael and Elizabeth Kindred Simmons arrived in Thurston County in 1845, as part of the Simmons-Bush Party.  Simmons and others had interests in mills on the Deschutes River in New Market, now Tumwater.   Simmons Street is built on landfill that did not exist when Simmons lived here.

Unknown creator, Courtesy Washington State Historical Society, catalog 2005.0.132

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

Clarence Martin

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Martin Way was named for Washington State Governor Clarence Martin, pictured here. He served from 1933 to 1941. Governor Martin was on hand when the road was dedicated in 1937; it became an important component of the Washington State segment of the Pacific Coast Highway, at that time the longest continuous stretch of pavement in the world.  

Washington State Archives, Portraits of State Governors, image AR-00209047-ph000025

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

Lydia Hawk

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Hawks Prairie is named for early Lacey settlers John and Sarah Hawk and their children. Lydia Hawk Elementary School in Lacey is named for John and Sarah’s daughter, pictured here. 

Courtesy Wikitree, genealogy sharing site

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023

Ruth Yauger

Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. In the early 20th century, Reverend and Mrs. Francis Yauger purchased 410 acres of investment land in the Cooper Point Road area. Part of the property was sold and eventually became the Capital Mall; another part became the Capital High School campus.  The Yaugers’ son, Colonel Kendall Yauger, and Kendall’s sister Ruth Yauger, pictured here, later sold the land that became Yauger Park. 

1929 College of Puget Sound Yearbook

Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023