Tumwater is a city in

Thurston County, Washington Thurston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 294,793. The county seat is Olympia, Washington, Olympia, the ...

, United States. The population was 25,350 at the 2020 census. The city is situated near where the

Deschutes River The Deschutes River ( ) in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, easte ...

enters

Budd Inlet Budd Inlet is an inlet located at the southern end of Puget Sound in Thurston County, Washington. It is the southernmost arm of Puget Sound. Etymology Budd Inlet was named by Charles Wilkes during the United States Exploring Expedition, to hono ...

, the southernmost point of

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

; it also borders the state capital of Olympia to the north. Tumwater is the oldest permanent Anglo-American settlement on Puget Sound.

Etymology

Tumwater was originally called "New Market" by American settlers, and under the latter name was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1845. The present name is derived from

Chinook Jargon Chinook Jargon (' or ', also known simply as ''Chinook'' or ''Jargon'') is a language originating as a pidgin language, pidgin trade language in the Pacific Northwest. It spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to othe ...

and means "waterfall". A post office called Tumwater was established in 1863.

History

The site of Tumwater and

Tumwater Falls The Tumwater Falls are a series of cascades on the Deschutes River in Tumwater, Washington, United States. They are located near where the river empties into Budd Inlet, a southerly arm of Puget Sound in Olympia. Geology The Deschutes River ...

has been home to Southern Lushootseed-speaking peoples known as the Steh-Chass / Stehchass or Statca'sabsh (a subtribe of the Sahewamish (Sahe'wabsh), an subgroup of the

Nisqually people The Nisqually are a Lushootseed language, Lushootseed-speaking Native Americans of the United States, Native American tribe in western Washington (state), Washington state in the United States. They are a Southern Coast Salish peoples, Coast Sal ...

; who became part of the post-treaty

Squaxin Island Tribe The Squaxin Island Tribe is a federally recognized tribe located in Mason County, Washington. They are descended from several Southern Coast Salish peoples, including the Squaxin, Sahewamish, T'Peeksin, Squiaitl, Stechass, and Nusechatl. Historica ...

) for thousands of years. "Steh-Chass" is the Lushootseed name for Budd Inlet, Deschutes River and the Tumwater Falls area, and for an important village of the Statca'sabsh. Tumwater was incorporated as a town on November 25, 1869, and as a city in 1875. The construction of

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

, which was completed in 1958, required the demolition of 100 buildings in downtown Tumwater. Major businesses had already relocated northeast to Tumwater Square, which remains a local shopping center. The Tumwater Historic District was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978 to preserve remnants of downtown amid plans to widen Interstate 5. File:Tumwater Falls.jpg, Tumwater Falls of the Deschutes River File:Old Olympia Brewery as seen from Tumwater, WA park.jpg, The original brewery that produced Olympia Beer, pictured in 2012

Geography

Tumwater is located two miles south of the neighboring

state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital city, capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals *List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population *List of national capitals by area *List of ...

of Olympia. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.

Climate

This region experiences warm and dry summers, with average monthly temperatures between 71.6 °F (22 °C) and 98.1 °F (36.7 °C). According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Tumwater has a very warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Demographics

Based on

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Tumwater ranks 89th of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked. It is also the highest rank in Thurston County.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 17,371 people, 7,566 households, and 4,460 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 8,064 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 85.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.2% Native American, 4.8% Asian, 0.5%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.6% from other races, and 5.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 6.2% of the population. There were 7,566 households, of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.1% were non-families. Of all households, 31.6% were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.83. The median age in the city was 35 years. 27% of residents were under the age of 18, 10% from 18 to 24; 31.7% were between the ages of 25 and 44; 26.8% from 45 to 64; and 13% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.7% male and 52.3% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 12,698 people, 5,659 households, and 3,253 families living in the city. The population density was 1,276.1 people per square mile (492.7/km²). There were 5,953 housing units at an average density of 598.2 per square mile (231.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.41%

, 1.39%

, 1.24% Native American, 3.90% Asian, 0.36%

, 1.50% from other races, and 3.21% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 4.08% of the population. There were 5,659 households, out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. Of all households, 33.7% were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.82. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 23.2% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $43,329, and the median income for a family was $54,156. Males had a median income of $41,778 versus $32,044 for females. The

for the city was $25,080. About 4.3% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 9.5% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

The Davis Meeker oak tree, listed on the Tumwater Register of Historic Places, is a 400-year-old historic

Garry oak ''Quercus garryana'' is an oak tree species named for Nicholas Garry, deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. It is commonly known as the Garry oak, Oregon white oak or Oregon oak. The species is found in the Pacific Northwest, with a ran ...

located at the

Olympia Regional Airport Olympia Regional Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) south of the central business district of Olympia, a city in Thurston County and the capital of the U.S. state of Washington. It is owned by the Port of O ...

on Old Highway 99. Named after

Ezra Meeker Ezra Morgan Meeker (December 29, 1830December 3, 1928) was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon as a young man, migrating from Iowa to the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. Later in life he worked to ...

and Jack Davis, an environmentalist who helped save the oak in 1984 during a highway improvement project, the tree was a trail maker on the Cowlitz Trail, and then later on the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

. In 2024, safety for passing motorists became a concern when a branch broke and fell several feet near the roadway. Tumwater's mayor, Debbie Sullivan, attempted to remove the tree in May of that year without the support of the city council based on a 2023 report of the city's arborist that concluded the tree was high risk; the report was criticized for having numerous flaws. Due to public protests, coupled with a citizen lawsuit and report discrepancies, the mayor paused her efforts and agreed to obtain a second opinion. Options to save the tree were announced by the city in February 2025 and the city council adopted a plan to preserve the tree in April. Four identical concrete

totem poles Totem poles () are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large t ...

are located on the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

-style Carlyon Bridge in Tumwater. The

Haida Haida may refer to: Haida people Many uses of the word derive from the name of an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. * Haida people, an Indigenous ethnic group of North America (Canada) ** Council of the Haida Nati ...

-style sculptures contain, from the top, a raven, a

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

, an eagle, and another bear. The totems were added as part of an overall project on Capitol Boulevard in 1937. The sculptures, when erected, were considered to be the only known concrete totems in the world. They remained without color until 1951, painted with some hues regarded to be non-traditional in indigenous works, but repainted after 1990. The designer of the totems is unknown.

Government

Due to the city being located in close proximity to the state capital, Tumwater is home to many state government offices, including the

Washington State Department of Corrections The Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC) is a department of the government of the State of Washington. WADOC is responsible for administering adult corrections programs operated by the state. This includes state correctional inst ...

, the

Washington State Department of Labor and Industries The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) is a department of the Washington state government that regulates and enforces labor standards. The agency administers the state's workers' compensation system, conducts workplace in ...

, the

Washington State Department of Health The Washington State Department of Health is a state agency of Washington. It is headquartered in Olympia, Washington. The agency was created by the state legislature in May 1989 after splitting from the Washington State Department of Social and ...

, the

Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner An insurance commissioner (or commissioner of insurance) is a public official in the executive branch of a state or territory in the United States who, along with their office, regulate ...

, the Washington State Department of Revenue and the Office of the Attorney General. The City of Tumwater itself is a non-charter Code City and uses a mayor-council form of government. The Mayor is elected as a chief executive officer and advised by seven council members who act as policymakers and provide guidelines and performance objectives. The Tumwater City Council elections are held in odd-numbered years.

Education

The Tumwater School District is home to numerous schools including Tumwater High School and Black Hills High School.

References

External links

City of Tumwater, Washington
(official website) {{Authority control Cities in Washington (state) Cities in Thurston County, Washington Populated places established in 1846 Chinook Jargon place names 1846 establishments in Oregon Country