The Reed Building, at the corner of Washington and Legion, is one of downtown Olympia’s earliest downtown structures. It was erected in 1891 by Thomas Milburne Reed and features apartments at the second story with retail establishments on ground level. The building originally had elaborate decorative moldings at the roofline, but it was badly damaged during the 1949 earthquake and few of the decorative features remain.
Vibert Jeffers photograph, 1930, Susan Parish Collection, Washington State Archives
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2016 and 2026