The Olympia Artesian Well

There is nothing so special about this artesian well. It is in an alley with a fountain, but the art surrounding it is elegant. Some unsavory characters hang around it.
This is the second time that I have been here in my recollection. It is a good part of history and it has some elegance indeed. There are plenty of signs which depict the history of this.
Try seeing this for two minutes.

What can say, I love the well water its the only water I drink. The area currently isn’t as bad as everyone says, I go fill my water up maybe smile and sat hi to others, and leave, I don’t hang out. the people that do, well there is discussion about it, they are trying to make the commons a pleasant place to relax.

This used to be a beautiful place that was family friendly now it is plagued with needles passed out street kids and police there have been many fights stabbings and even children being harmed the well kinda reminds me of lord of the flies. If you come for water i suggest going befor 10 am

You folks in Olympia have a real treasure!
Ya’ll can often be found filling up your empty water bottles at the town’s artesian well located in downtown Olympia. I regret that I did not take a photo as this well has been given an artistic facelift. It is adorned with a mosaic of mostly blue tiles and it is beautiful.
Thanks to Miss Jeannie J. who brought me along as she filled her water bottles, I too have been to the source and filled a water bottle myself. I can attest that the water is in fact crisp, clear and tastes great.
I understand why the people of Olympia love their well so much.
2014 — Review # 37

It was a little difficult to find this well using the map and initially didn’t realize we walked past it because a few homeless people were sitting near it but once you find it spend some time observing just how many people stop by the well for the water. I saw families pull up for water, passerby’s just filling up a water bottle and of course homeless getting a drink and washing their hands. It’s actually pretty cool and unique to have well water from the earth free and available to anyone at any time. Perhaps it’s cool to me because I’m just a visitor to the state but definitely would take advantage of this if I lived here.

This is just odd in the middle of the hustle and bustle of downtown Olympia. It does seem to have quite a vigorous flow though. It’s cool to look at and maybe fill up a jug or two but that’s about it… just an oddity. And it was actually quite hard to fill up my jug because there was a massive amount of people with 8 – 12 10 gal jugs filling up and tossing them in the back of their cars. A few people put their mouths directing on spigot, but whatever. Nice thing to drive by.

A uniquely-​Olympia anomaly in downtown that flows from the depths of the earth. It’s reportedly clean and it tastes fine to me. I’m glad they preserved it rather than paving it over, as it’s quite an interesting sight and also very popular amongst the locals! Unfortunately this area is often frequented by some questionable people, so I wouldn’t trust my wife going here alone. But there are usually so many Olympians swinging by to fill up their jugs that safety may not be too big of an issue.

I remember the first time I saw the Artesian Well behind Olympic outfitters. I was probably in 6^th or 7^th grade. I was with a few friends. We had been looking at stuff we couldn’t afford in the shops. When we walked through the parking lot, one of my friends knew what it was. I did not, and I was skeptical. I mean really, an artesian well? All I saw was a unmarked pipe with water flowing from it in a random parking lot downtown. I wasn’t drinking any! Of course no one carried water bottles with them everywhere like we do now, so my friends just drank from it like it was a fountain. I asked my parents about it later, and they confirmed. Great water, drink up! It felt like some cool secret discovery. I’ve been visiting this well ever since.
From the website:
The Artesian Well, located between 4^th Avenue E, and Jefferson Street (former Diamond Parking Lot), is at 415 4^th Avenue E. It is reported the well was constructed between 1895 and 1915 on the former railroad station site, now Olympic Outfitters.
Links with information
The link on the main page will give information about the water quality, and recent improvements to the well.
The water still flows freely, but the site has been marked. People come down and fill gallon jugs for use at home. I usually stop by when I’m in town to refill my bottle before my drive back to Portland, or when I’m walking around downtown.
There are still many locals that don’t know about the well. Since it’s near and dear to my heart, I wanted to share this quirky little secret. If you’re looking for something unique to downtown Olympia, stop by for a free drink. It’s the water!