Throughout 2023 the Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme was origins of area place names. Ruddell Road in Lacey was named for the Ruddell family, early settlers in Thurston County. Stephen Ruddell, pictured here, was involved in the so-called Indian war of 1855-1856. He later married Margaret White; the couple moved to Olympia where they built the Ruddell House on Olympia Avenue, listed on the city’s Heritage Register.
Photograph around 1860, Courtesy Oregon Historical Society
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2023