Millersylvania State Park, Olympia

Millersylvania State Park is a publicly owned recreation area located 10 miles south of Olympia, Washington. The state park's include old-growth cedar and fir trees as well as of freshwater shoreline on Deep Lake. The park is managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.HistoryThe area was homesteaded by Squire Lathum in 1855 and then was sold to John Miller. The Miller family called the area Miller's Glade, before changing it Millersylvania and giving the property to the state in 1921 for perpetual use as a park. In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps was active in the park constructing buildings, mostly by hand. Remnants of a narrow-gauge railway, 19th-century skid roads, and other reminders of the logging industry can be found on park grounds, including tree stumps bearing the scars of springboards used by loggers.Activities and amenitiesThe park offers camping on 120 tent spaces and 48 utility spaces, 16mi of hiking and biking trails, boating, fishing and swimming.Deep LakeAccording to the survey done by the State Department of Game in 1947, Deep Lake is 17ft deep at its deepest part. It covers an area of, and has a water volume of 771acre.ft. Deep Lake is located in Section 3, Township 16N, Range 2W, Willamette.The first known name of the lake by white settlers was Deep Lake as noted in a land survey in 1855. However, the lake was referred to as CoKaine Lake in the late 19th century which could have been an early Native American name. For a period of time, the lake went under the name Drake Lake. The name Drake Lake name originated from the Lyman Darrow Drake family that settled on the south side of the lake in 1872. The Drake Lake name was still commonly used up until the late 1920s as was evidenced by several US Geological Survey and Metsker Maps dated up to 1929. The Drake family sold their property in 1908.

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