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About Tumwater

Tumwater is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,350 at the 2020 census. The city is situated near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound; it also borders the state capital of Olympia to the north. Tumwater is the oldest permanent Anglo-American settlement on Puget Sound. == Etymology == Tumwater was originally called "New Market" by American settlers, and under the latter name was platted in 1845. The present name is derived from Chinook Jargon and means "waterfall". A post office called Tumwater was established in 1863. == History == The site of Tumwater and Tumwater Falls has been home to Southern Lushootseed-speaking peoples known as the Steh-Chass / Stehchass or Statca'sabsh (a subtribe of the Sahewamish (Sahe'wabsh), an subgroup of the Nisqually people; who became part of the post-treaty Squaxin Island Tribe) for thousands of years. "Steh-Chass" is the Lushootseed name for Budd Inlet, Deschutes River and the Tumwater Falls area, and for an important village of the Statca'sabsh. The city incorporated in 1875.The construction of Interstate 5, which was completed in 1958, required the demolition of 100 buildings in downtown Tumwater.