Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Albert Rutledge, son of pioneer Thomas Rutledge, stands behind the rock on his family homestead that gives Littlerock, Washington its name, in this photo from 1963. The Rutledge family settled here in 1855. The homestead was one of the earliest in Washington Territory, and both it and the rock still exist.
Daily Olympian photo, 1963, State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023