Thurston County is located at the southern end of Puget Sound. It is named after Samuel R. Thurston, the Oregon Territory's first delegate to Congress. The population is just over 250,000. The county seat is at Olympia, the state capital, the state's fourth largest city and Thurston County's largest city.
Thurston County was created out of Lewis County by the government of Oregon Territory in 1852. At that time, it included all of the Puget Sound region and the Olympic Peninsula. State government is one of the largest employers in Thurston County.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 774 square miles, of which 727 square miles is land and 47 square miles is water.
