Spring 2009

Olympia Historical Society Newsletter – Spring 2009

Click on link below to view a PDF of this newsletter, originally issued in print. Scanned March 4, 2014

Urban Hicks – 6/4/23
Throughout 2023 we’ll be exploring the origins of area place names. Hicks Lake in Lacey is named for the Hicks family. Urban E. Hicks arrived in Thurston County in the 1850s. He served as Territorial Auditor, librarian, schoolteacher, and publisher. His son, Gallatin Gwin Hicks, established a resort, Gwinwood, on Hicks Lake, that still exists.…
June 4, 2023
End of Oregon Trail – 5/28/23
Throughout 2023 we’ll be exploring the origins of area place names. Old Oregon Trail Road descends from near the south end of Water Street to the waterfront below I-5. Before I-5 was built, this road was called View Place. The name was changed in 1983 to recognize that this road was part of the northern…
May 28, 2023
Colonel Speed Sapp – 5/21/23
Throughout 2023 we’ll be exploring the origins of area place names. Sapp Road in Tumwater was named for the Sapp family, who settled in Thurston County in the late 1800s. Looking Back recently ran a photograph of Bernice Sapp, a prominent suffragist. Shown here is her brother, Colonel Speed Sapp. Confusingly, Colonel was his first…
May 21, 2023