Boston Harbor is an unincorporated community in Thurston County, Washington. C. B. Hillman, a Seattle real estate developer, platted the site in 1917 believing that it would be excellent for industrial development and easily reached by the mosquito fleet of steamships

Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet

The Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet was a large number of private transportation companies running smaller passenger and freight boats on Puget Sound and nearby waterways and rivers. This large group of steamers and sternwheelers plied the waters of Puget Sound, stopping at every waterfront dock...

 plying the Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

. The community is home to the Dofflemyer Point Light, built in 1934 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1995.

Location

It is located at the intersection of Pickering Passage

Pickering Passage

Pickering Passage is a strait, in the southern end of part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. Entirely within Mason County, the Pickering Passage separates Hartstine Island from the mainland, and connects Totten Inlet with the north end of Case Inlet.Pickering Passage flows past the...

 and Dana Passage, with outlying parts also falling along Budd Inlet

Budd Inlet

Budd Inlet is the southernmost arm of Puget Sound. The city of Olympia, Washington is located at the southern end of Budd Inlet. A deepwater shipping channel has been dredged providing deep water access to the Port of Olympia which is from Tacoma and from Seattle.Budd Inlet was named by Charles...

. It is located between Dover Point and Defflemyer Point, which is marked by a distinctive concrete lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 that is not accessible by land. Boston Harbor is a formerly rural area that has now become an affluent exurb of Olympia, Washington

Olympia, Washington

Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...

. The community features many waterfront and waterview homes. The area is also home to the Boston Harbor Marina, and sits near Priest Point Park

Priest Point Park

Priest Point Park is a public park located in Olympia, Washington. Established in 1905, it was the city's first waterfront park, providing access to the Budd Inlet of Puget Sound.- History :...

 and Burfoot Park. Children in the area have attended the formerly independent Boston Harbor School since the early 1900's, now part of the Olympia School District

Olympia School District

Olympia School District is a school district serving approximately 9400 students in the city of Olympia in Thurston County, Washington...

.