Airport Boulder, at Martha Lake Airport Park in Martha Lake, said to be “one of the largest glacial erratic boulders in urban King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties”, is approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) long on its longest axis and about twice a man’s height. The erratic is composed of greenstone, and has long been used for bouldering (rock climbing), with at least four ascent routes.- Olympia — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
The Olympia area was well established by 1853 thanks to the Hudson’s Bay Company’s nearby Fort Nisqually and Puget Sound Agriculture Company, the early U.S. settlement at Tumwater, and Catholic missionary activity. The discovery of coal and a good harbor boosted the pioneer economy and Olympia served as the terminus of the Cowlitz Trail, the northern extension of the Oregon Trail, where settlers could transfer from foot and wagons to canoes and ships and spread outward along the shores of Puget Sound. The town grew with its own economy as Washington grew as a state, in addition to serving as the seat of government from 1853 to the present time.