FOR LYDIA WILLIAMS, THE PARK THAT BEARS HER FAMILY NAME is suffused with memories that span the generations: A first romantic picnic under the carport with her future husband, Carl Hitchcock Williams. Crossing the seasonal stream via land-bridge for sourdough waffles at “Grammy’s house.” The handed-down lore of great-grandfather John Olson, who it’s said would row from Manzanita to Seattle to deliver fresh eggs to market.

Today, as the community looks to Williams-Olson Park and new amenities are planned, those memories and more can be shared and carried forward.

“I’m really feeling good about this,” says Lydia, visiting the park on a sunny, bracing winter afternoon. “It’s just a magical place.”

THE WILLIAMS-OLSON FAMILY TIES to the land date to 1890, when John Olson (1863-1949) and Karin Persson Olson (1865-1930) first arrived on Bainbridge from Sweden. They had lived in Minnesota, returned to the old country for a time, then came back to […]