Jeannine Roe
Jeannine was born in Tacoma, WA and raised in Olympia since the age of 4. I graduated from Olympia High School, University of Puget Sound with a degree in Education…
Bergquist Millwork Building
Location: 402 Washington St NE Bergquist Millwork Building, 1954, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Bergquist Millwork building today (2013), photo by Deb Ross The Bergquist Millwork Building, erected in 1936, is…
Bigelow-Bailey House
Location: 936 Glass Ave NE Local register Bigelow-Bailey House, 1937, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Bigelow-Bailey House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross This pretty L-shaped house was built by the…
Congregational Manse (Anderson House)
Location: 110 10th Ave SW Religious organizations; Local register Congregational Manse, 1954, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Congregational Manse now (2013), photo by Deb Ross Although unpretentious in style, the Congregational Manse…
Curtiss House
Location: 903 Glass Ave NE Local register; Women’s History Curtiss House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Curtiss House today (2013), photo by Deb Ross The Curtiss House on Glass Avenue,…
Dufault House
Location: 1628 Water St SW Local register; South Capitol National Historic District Dufault House, 1965, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Dufault House today (2013), photo by Matt Kennelly The Dufault House,…
Dunbar House
Location: 1118 Olympia Ave NE Local register; Olympia Avenue Historic District; Women’s History Dunbar House, 1954, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Dunbar House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross The Dunbar…
Gilbert House
Location: 331 Rogers St NW Local register Gilbert House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Gilbert House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross This is another example of the modest but attractive…
Gloria Dei Lutheran first site
Location: Southwest corner Adams and 5th Religious institutions, Women’s history; Diversity: Scandinavians Gloria Dei Lutheran, 1949, Courtesy of Gloria Dei Lutheran church Former site of Gloria Dei Lutheran today (2013), photo by…
Goodyear Tire Company Building/First site of United Presbyterian
Location: 421 4th Ave E Wohleb; Transportation; Religious institutions United Presbyterian Church, undated, courtesy of Westminster Presbyterian Goodyear tire building (2013), photo by Deb Ross United Presbyterian Church, now Westminster Presbyterian…
Howell House
Location: 413 Quince St NE Local register Howell House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Howell House today (2013), photo by Matt Kennelly The Howell House on Quince Street is an…
Israel House
Location: 2732 Capitol Boulevard S Local register Israel House, 1936, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Israel House today (2013), photo by Matt Kennelly The George Israel House on Capitol Way is…
Jones House
Location: 915 Legion Way SE Local register Jones House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Jones House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross This well-preserved Pioneer style home was likely built…
Kearney House/YWCA
Location: 220 Union Ave SE Local register, Women’s History, Religious Institutions YWCA (Kearney House) 1961, courtesy Washington State Historical Society Kearney House now, photo by YWCA of Olympia This fine…
Echtle, A Brief History of the South Sound Country
by Edward Echtle The Olympia area presents numerous opportunities to learn about the people and places of our past. In rural areas, many historic places survive relatively unchanged from the…
Kincy Hardware
Location: 512 4th Ave E Kincy Hardware building after the 1949 earthquake, William P. Conser photograph, courtesy of Washington State Historical Society Kincy Hardware building today (2013), photo by Matt Kennelly The…
Table of Contents, Spring 2013
President’s Message Spring 2013 Mark Foutch Olympia in Minor League Baseball Emmett O’Connell Origins of the Olympia Historical Society, Chapter 2 Mark Foutch Deb and Lanny’s Excellent Adventure Deborah Ross…
Derricott: Personal Reflections of a Former Newsletter Editor
By Mark Derricott, former editor of the OHS Newsletter I recently re-read a couple of my favorite books: The Histories by Herodotus and Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.Aside from realizing that I was much…
Deb and Lanny’s Excellent Adventures
On a weekly basis, Members Lanny Weaver and Deb Ross catalogue the State Capital Museum collection now housed at the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) in Tacoma. This project is…
Foutch: Origins of the Olympia Historical Society, part 2
By Mark Foutch, President Incorporation, Bylaws and Progress (If the exploratory and organizational meetings of 2001 could be considered “conception” and “birth,” then early in 2002 the Olympia Historical Society…
O’Connell: Olympia in Minor League Baseball
By Emmett O’Connell In 1903 John P. Fink, a newspaper man and promoter, had an idea for a baseball league. Fink seemed to be a jack-of-all-trades sort of promoter in…
President’s Message Spring 2013
By Mark Foutch, President It was ‘Standing Room Only” thanks especially to John Dodge’s great write-up in The Olympian, as we started off the year January 26 with a great…
Visual Resources – Photographs and Videos
Photographs The Society’s website maintains a small collection of photographs in our image bibliography. Many more photographs and links to photographs are available for viewing in our Where Are We?,…
Membership form
You may print out, fill in and mail this membership form,…
Get involved!
Do you want to become more involved in Olympia’s history and heritage? There are many ways to do so, and we can help. Here are a few: Join the Olympia…
Resources for Researching Olympia’s History
The following is a list of materials relating to Olympia area history that are available either on our website or elsewhere. Bibliography – listing of books, transcripts, and articles –…
McArdle House
Location: 223 19th Ave SW Local register; South Capitol National Historic District McArdle House 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives McArdle House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross This handsome Foursquare House,…
Methodist Church – second site at 5th and Adams
Location: Northwest corner Adams and 5th Religious institutions First Methodist, around 1903, First United Methodist Church of Olympia Former site of First Methodist today (2013), photo by Deb Ross Another example of…
Neuffer House
Location: 1625 Water St SW Local register; South Capitol National Historic District Neuffer House 1936, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Neuffer House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross This large bungalow near…
Olympia Steam Heating Plant
Location: 113 Thurston St NE mid-Century modern No vintage photographs of this building have been scanned. If you have one to share, please contact us. Olympia Steam Plant building…
Parker/Mills House
Location: 1617 Columbia St SW Local register; South Capitol National Historic District Parker/Mills House, 1937, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Parker/Mills House today (2013), photo by Matt Kennelly The Parker/Mills House…
Parr House
Location: 1518 Columbia St SW Local register; South Capitol National Historic District Parr House, 1937, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Parr House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross This sturdy Foursquare style…
Parrott/McIntosh House
Location: 401 18th Ave SE Local register; South Capitol National Historic District Parrott/McIntosh House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Parrott/McIntosh House today (2013), photo by Matt Kennelly This is a…
Porter House
Location: 1803 Capitol Way S Local register; South Capitol National Historic District Porter House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Porter House today (2013), photo by Deb Ross The Porter House…
Ross, Hugh House
Location: 1705 Capitol Way S Local register; South Capitol National Historic District No historic photograph has been located; if you have one we can scan, please contact us Ross…
Ruddell House
Location: 901 Olympia Ave NE Local register, Olympia Avenue Historic District, Women’s history Ruddell House 1965, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Ruddell House today (2012), photo by Matt Kennelly The…
Sparks House
Location: 1018 Olympia Ave NE Local register; Olympia Ave Historic District Sparks House 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Sparks House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross This charming Victorian-style cottage…
Union Pacific Depot
Location: 407 4th Ave E Transportation Union Pacific Depot, 1925, courtesy of Washington State Historical Society Union Pacific Depot building today (2013), photo by Deb Ross The Union Pacific Depot building was…
Unitarian Church site
Location: Southwest corner 9th and Franklin Religious institutions, Popular culture Unitarian Church, 1891, drawing by Edward Lange, from Olympia Tribune Souvenir Issue, Washington State Library Parking lot of First Baptist (2013), photo…
Westside Grocery
Location: 903 Rogers St NW Local register No vintage photographs of this building have been scanned. If you have one to share, please contact us. Westside Grocery building today…
Young House
Location: 2002 Capitol Way S Local register; National South Capitol Historic District Young House, 1936, Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives Young House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross This elegant Queen…