- On April 22, 1854, Steilacoom becomes the first town in Washington to be incorporated by the new Washington Territorial Legislature. Originally two separate and competing towns founded in 1851 by Lafayette Balch (1825-1862) and John B. Chapman (1797-1877), they are combined into one by the incorporating legislation. Initially Steilacoom grows rapidly as an industrial and economic center. Despite its promising start, railroad construction in the 1870s will bypass the town, and its growth will slow as Tacoma becomes Pierce County’s main industrial and economic center. Steilacoom will eventually evolve into a commuter town surrounded by encroaching suburban development. Local efforts to preserve historic buildings and sites in Steilacoom beginning in the 1960s will lead to the town being named one of the state’s first designated historic districts.
- 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.