Tumwater is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. It lies near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound. The population was 12,698 at the 2000 census. Thurston County, which includes the cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater, has a population of 224,100.

History

Before Tumwater received its current name, it was known as Bush Prairie after the founding settler George Washington Bush. He was a former slave and later cattle rancher and father of William Owen Bush. Tumwater was founded next to the falls of the Deschutes River at the south end of Puget Sound as New Market in 1846 by a group of pioneers led by Michael Simmons, making it the first United States settlement on the Puget Sound as well as the first north of the Columbia river.

The name was changed to Tumwater borrowing from a Chinook Jargon phrase tumtum chuck meaning "waterfall" or "rapids" (literally "heartbeat water"). Tumwater was officially incorporated on November 12, 1875.

From 1896-2003, Tumwater was well known regionally as the home of the Olympia Brewing Company. The Olympia Brewing Company began producing beer in 1896 at a site along the Deschutes River and continued until Prohibition. After Prohibition ended, a new brewery was erected just upstream from the original site. This brewery was eventually purchased by SABMiller and closed on July 1, 2003.

Geography

Tumwater is located at (47.007768, -122.911074).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.1 square miles (26.1 km²), of which, 9.9 square miles (25.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (1.29%) is water.

Demographics

Based on per capita income, 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.

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,698 people, 5,659 households, and 3,253 families residing 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/sq mi (231.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.41% White, 1.39% African American, 1.24% Native American, 3.90% Asian, 0.36% Pacific Islander, 1.50% from other races, and 3.21% from two or more races. Hispanic 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. 33.7% of all households 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 population was spread out with 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 per capita income for the city was $25,080. About 4.3% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.5% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

High school football

Tumwater is also known for its high school football programs. The town has supported athletics at Tumwater High School, where the team is called the Thunderbirds, and the recently formed Black Hills High School. Most of the success can be directed toward Tumwater head coach Sid Otton, who took over the reins in 1973. In the 2005 season the school broke the all-time Washington state wins record of 273 wins. During Otton's tenure, Tumwater has won four state titles and made the state playoffs 18 times.

References

External links

• City of Tumwater, Washington (official website)