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 another example of the functional commercial buildings erected in the Port area in the early part of the 20th Century. In the 1940s it was…
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 Bigelow family in 1897 as a rental unit. It is just two doors up from the Bigelow House on Glass Street. Although built in the simple Pioneer…
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 (sometimes referred to as the Anderson House) on 10th Avenue is significant for its connection with an early church of Olympia, First Congregational, which was next door…
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, across the street from the Bigelow House, is described as a Victorian cottage, built around 1903. The owners have taken pains to preserve the charm of…
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, on Water Street, was built around 1903 by Charles Dufault, an Olympia commissioner and businessman (see also Dufault Building). It was also occupied for several years…
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 House is one of the four homes in this neighborhood occupied by the White family women: the mother, Margaret White Ruddell (Ruddell House) and her…
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 homes that were built by J.R. Chaplin in order to induce immigrants to come to Olympia and participate in the development of his utopian college…
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 Church, is another participant in the game of “musical pews” described in our listing for Gloria Dei. The church was organized in 1893 in a room of…
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 example of one of the many unadorned, yet sturdily built homes that served working residents of Olympia in the late 19th century. It was probably…
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 one of the largest and finest houses in Olympia. Built in about 1904, it is a well-proportioned Foursquare structure with pairs of columns and a…
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 before 1890, the home of Mark Jones, who was an early Thurston County settler, and a gardener. The Sanborn insurance maps for 1908 show greenhouses on…
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 Kincy Hardware building was erected in 1919 and operated as a hardware store by Oscar Kincy starting in 1922. It has changed very little in…
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 Personal Reflections of a Former Newsletter Editor Mark Derricott
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 too young when I read them last time, I happened to read those books as my personal life underwent some relatively dramatic turn of events.…
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 made possible through a collaboration between the Olympia Historical Society and WSHS, and Deb and Lanny are grateful for the time and cooperation of the…
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 was “confirmed” and took its first steps. And suddenly the “toddler” had lots of great ideas. The challenge would be to choose among them and…
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 the era, is mostly mentioned in that gray area between public relations and newspapering. He wrote about sports, worked for newspapers, but also ran teams…
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 program at the Coach House. Gerry Alexander, Jim Brown and Bill Jacobs captivated the crowd with an informative and entertaining panel titled, “On The Homefront: …
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, with two stories of bay windows, was built around 1906. It is named after long-time residents L.D. and Fannie McArdle. L.D. was a legislator from…
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 Capitol Campus was built in 1909 by Paul Neuffer, a German-born jeweler who owned Neuffer‘s jewelry store downtown (see also the Paul and Catherine Neuffer…
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 today (2013), photo by Deb Ross In the heyday of industrial activity in the Port area, the Olympia Steam Heating Company took steam generated at the…
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 is a handsome and early example of the Craftsman style that became increasingly popular in Olympia in the early decades of the twentieth century. It…
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 house was built around 1893 and originally sat at the location of the Temple of Justice. It was moved several blocks when the Temple became the…
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 beautifully restored pioneer style home located in the South Capitol Neighborhood. Thurston County inventory records contain two strikingly different accounts of its dates and owners. According…
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 on Capitol Way, was built around 1903 by Nathan Porter, who was an early pioneer photographer, teacher, territorial auditor, and clerk. It was also occupied…
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 House now (2013), photo by Deb Ross The Ross House was built in 1892 for Hugh Ross, a downtown drugstore owner, who had businesses in the…
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 was built around 1912 by Charles Sparks and his wife Avis. Charles Sparks was listed as a city clerk. The house is on the local…
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 built in 1916 when a 7 mile UP spur was brought to downtown Olympia. Although it carried some passengers, its primary cargo was bound for…
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 by Deb Ross Yet another “paved Paradise” in downtown Olympia, this was once the site of the Unitarian Church. The church originally met in a…
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 (2013), photo by Deb Ross The Westside Grocery building is a long-time fixture in Olympia, built about 1902. It operated as a grocery store until very…
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 Anne home was built by Theodore D. Young, the son of an early Thurston County pioneer. Young was an early partner of developer Millard Lemon,…
