- Lacey — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
The City of Lacey is located between the City of Olympia and the Nisqually River in northeastern Thurston County. Originally known as Woodland and also sometimes referred to as Chambers Prairie, the community that became Lacey was founded in 1852 by Isaac Wood (1800-1869). The settlement grew slowly at first, but the 1890s brought increased growth and a new name. In 1891 alone, a train depot and a horse racetrack opened, as did a post office, which was named Lacey. Saint Martin’s College (later University) opened a few years later. By the 1920s the name Woodland had been supplanted. Population and development increased after World War II, and Lacey incorporated as a city on December 5, 1966. Entering the third decade of the twenty-first century Lacey was one of the fastest-growing cities in Thurston County, nearly matching Olympia in population.
