Students and teachers line up outside the Central School, located at Union and Washington, in a photo from 1883. Among the students, seated in front, is Jesse Mars, who served as Olympia’s first Black firefighter from the age of 13. The school building still exists, now at the corner of Adams and Union. Photograph selected and captioned by Deborah Ross on behalf of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum.

A.D. Rogers Photo, 1883, State Library collection, Washington State Archives