Capitol Lake
| Capitol Lake | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | Olympia / Tumwater, Washington, United States |
| Coordinates | 47°1′59.81″N 122°54′31.58″W / 47.0332806°N 122.9087722°WCoordinates: 47°1′59.81″N 122°54′31.58″W / 47.0332806°N 122.9087722°W |
| Type | artificial lake, Formerly wetlands and estuary |
| Primary inflows | Deschutes River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 3 km (1.9 mi) |
| Surface area | 260 acres (1.1 km2) |
| Settlements | Tumwater, Olympia |
Capitol Lake is a 3 kilometer long, 260-acre (1.1 km2) artificial lake at the mouth of Deschutes River in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. The Olympia Brewery sits on Capitol Lake in Tumwater, just downstream from where the Tumwater Falls meet the lake. The Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES) manages the lake, as part of The Washington State Capitol Campus.
Prior to American settlement, the tidal basin at the southern tip of Budd Inlet was a productive shellfish gathering area for native peoples. After settlement in the mid-19th century, the basin received much of the wastewater and other effluent outflow from "uptown" Olympia. In the 1890s the Northern Pacific Railroad located a station and switching yard on the eastern shore of the basin.
The first proposal for creating Capitol Lake came when Leopold Schmidt of the Olympia Brewing Company proposed in 1895 to " mak(e) a fresh water lake of it by building a dam and locks near the Westside (Olympia) bridge."
In 1911 the State Capitol Commission held a nationwide competition for the design of the State Capitol Campus. The winning architects, Wilder and White, submitted a revolutionary City Beautiful Movement and American Renaissance plan which included creating a body of water to reflect the Capitol Group of buildings on the bluff by installing a tidelock at the mouth of the Deschutes River.
A more limited lake was also part of the original landscape design by John Olmsted to reflect the Washington State Capitol building on Puget Sound. The lake as envisioned by Olmsted would have been created with a north to south running berm, as opposed to an east to west running dam.
In 1915, the State Capitol Commission rejected a plan by former Olympia Mayor and state legislator P.H. Carlyon to replace Olympia's bridge to the westside with a dam and locks. That plan would have created a lake very much like the present Capitol Lake. Because of opposition from upriver Tumwater businesses, such as the Olympia Brewing Company and the Olympia Power and Light Company, that plan was not approved.
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