ABOUT OLYMPIA
State Capital, Home of the Fighting Geoducks
As Washington State's capital city, Olympia is home to one of the last great domed capitols built in America. Set on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound, it stands 28 stories high. Forty-two broad granite steps lead up to the entrance which symbolize Washington's place as the 42nd state in the Union.
A team of thirty artisans spent five years carving the building's details in sandstone, marble, and wood. Stone ox skulls circle the base of the dome in a frieze that commemorates Washington's ox-cart pioneers. Elaborate plaster ceilings, rich with eagles and gilded rosettes, crown each legislative chamber. Interior railings and doorknobs bear the official state seal. Louis Comfort Tiffany in the last of his major commissions, designed the building's floor lamps, sconces, and chandeliers. His five-ton Angels of Mercy chandelier, centerpiece of the rotunda, hangs from the dome on a massive 101-foot chain.
Olympia also is home to Evergreen State College, a distinctive liberal arts college in the Pacific Northwest, whose mascot is the indiginous shellfish the geoduck.
ATTRACTIONS
- Steep in a hotbed of raging controversy while resting on one of downtown Olympia's art benches.
- Visit the largest farmers market in Washington State, the Olympia Farmers Market
- Tour the state Capital
- Visit Evergreen State College
LINK TO WEBCAM
View of Olympia airport
