Central School with Jesse Mars 2/24/19
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…
Seamart – 2/17/19
The Seamart store was a sprawling complex in the Port of Olympia that featured everything from groceries to amusement rides. In this undated photo, likely from the 1970s, a manager…
ZIP code introduced – 2/10/19
The ZIP code was introduced in 1963, to facilitate sorting and delivering United States mail. In this publicity photo, Thurston County resident Carol Bjorklund demonstrates the correct use of the…
Ben Helle
Ben Helle is an archivist with Washington State Archives (Office of the Secretary of the State), having previously served as Government Records Archivist for the Ohio Historical Society. He received…
Jean Wilkinson
Jean Wilkinson is a Puget Sound native. She was born and grew up in Bellingham, and moved to Tacoma to attend the University of Puget Sound where she earned a…
2/3/19 – Dedication of End of Oregon Trail Monument
A group of men, women, and children gather around the End of the Oregon Trail monument, in Sylvester Park, at its dedication in 1913. The bearded gentleman at the right…
1/27/19 – Grand Mound Oregon Trail dedication
A group of local citizens, pioneer descendants, and historians pose for their photograph at the 1916 dedication of the Oregon Trail Monument in Grand Mound. The monument, shown draped in…
1/20/19 – Fallout Shelter practice
Threats of nuclear fallout were much on the public’s mind in the early 1960s. Here, youngsters Doug Drew and Donald Collins pose for their photo, having demonstrated they could survive…
1/13/19 – Legislative Page uniforms
Legislative pages Tom Harris and Pascual Pellizzia model page uniforms from the present (1963) and past. The older uniforms had recently been discovered at the State Capital Museum. With the…
Benjamin Hartsuck – 1/6/19
Benjamin Hartsuck was the first architect registered in Olympia. His most lasting contribution was as supervising architect for the Old State Capitol building, now the Superintendent of Public Instruction building…
Andy Crow – 12/30/18
A young Andy Crow repairs pipes of the Wurlitzer organ at the Olympic movie theater, in this 1963 photograph. When the theater was headed for demolition, Crow bought and restored…
SS Nisqually – 12/23/18
The S.S. Nisqually, a member of the Mosquito Fleet, steams along Puget Sound. The Mosquito Fleet is the name given to the dozens of small steamers that plied the waters…
Proffitt’s – 12/16/18
The Proffitt’s Department store was a fixture of downtown Olympia for many years. The building is now the site of the New Caldonia mini-mall on Fifth Avenue. Photograph selected and…
Frederick J.X. Miller – 12/2/18
Frederick J.X. Miller, shown here, was a prolific Thurston County writer and poet. He and his sisters donated the family property to the State of Washington provided it be maintained…
View from the Westside – 11/19/18
In this photograph from around 1904, we are looking across the Fourth Avenue Bridge towards downtown Olympia, from the Westside. Visible buildings that still exist include the Old State Capitol…
Jack Gimblet’s boxer – 11/4/18
Early Olympia saloon keeper Jack Gimblet had this professional photograph taken of his handsome boxer “Jerry” in this image from around the turn of the century. Photograph selected and captioned…
Sam McClellan – 10/21/18
Sam McClellan (or McClelland) was a businessman and chief of the Olympia Fire Department. He poses here in his uniform in a photograph from the late 1800s. Photograph selected and…
Roe sisters – 10/14/18
The two Roe sisters Jeannine and Sharon, along with their mother and an instructor, Mrs. Carl Neal, have fun with hand-made puppets as part of Olympia’s 1963 summer activity program.…
James Spirlock – 10/7/18
James T. Spirlock arrived in Thurston County in 1858, and settled in the Mima Mounds area. His property, now the Nelson Ranch, has been in the family ever since and…
Sun Wo – 9/23/18
Olympia photographer Ida Smith capture this photograph of Chinese entrepreneur Sun Wo in traditional garb in about 1890-1910. Chinese merchants were an important element of commerce in the 19th and…
Kenney family at Woodland Hotel
In this undated photograph, members of the Kenney family proudly pose in front of the Woodland Hotel that they operated. Woodland was the original name for the community that is…
Welcoming Pole at State Capital Museum – 9/9/18
In 1963 a welcoming pole was created for the State Capital Museum at the Lord Mansion that replicated the poles at the entrance to the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. The…
Port of Olympia in 1910 – 9/2/18
This photograph by Asahel Curtis shows members of the Mosquito Fleet approaching Percival Landing at the Port of Olympia on an overcast day in 1910. The Sand Man tug is…
Bulletin – 9/1/18
September 1, 2018 Fall is just around the corner, bringing with it changing colors and fascinating History events! Today, we note with sadness the sudden death of accomplished area historian…
St. Peter introduces television in rooms – 8/26/18
In 1963, St. Peter Hospital, then located in West Olympia, introduced the opportunity for patients to have televisions in their rooms. Here, Mrs. Herb (Shirley) Legg, a volunteer at the…
Plaque dedication – 8/19/18
In 1913, a group of Olympia citizens, many of them early pioneers, gathered to dedicate a plaque at the site of the first Washington Territorial Assembly. This plaque is still…
5th Avenue Dam Construction – 8/12/18
Few landmarks still exist to identify this August 1949 scene as the future site of the 5th Avenue dam and bridge. This photograph was taken as construction was getting under…
August 1909 special session – 8/5/18
In 1909, a special summer session of the Legislature was called, resulting in Session lasting until mid-August. A group of young women, all legislative clerks, posed for a group photo…
Lower Capitol Way – 7/29/18
The Port of Olympia was the hub of commercial activity in Olympia’s earliest decades. By 1910, when this photograph was taken, it was in decline: even the Red Light District…
Earl Bean in 1963 – 7/22/18
Earl Bean came here from Russia in 1892 and joined his father Joseph in the scrap metal business. He parlayed this into hardware store Olympia Supply on the shore of…
View from Old State Capitol – 7/15/18
This photograph was taken about 1900 from the Old State Capitol Building (now Superintendent of Public Instruction). Dominating the image is the Olympia Hotel, which burned down in 1904. Other…
Natalie Riggin – 7/8/18
Natalie Riggin won Second Grand Prize in the national Pillsbury Bakeoff contest in 1956, when she was only a teenager. Her Hoot Owl cookies are still included in compilations of…
Trena Belsito Worthington with the Rosellinis – 6/17/18
Olympia attorney Trena Belsito Worthington, at left, confers with Governor Albert and First Lady Ethel Rosellini as they barbecue a fish on Capitol Campus. In addition to being a successful…
Fish at City Hall – 5/27/18
In this Daily Olympian photo from summer 1966, Olympia city staffers stock the water feature at the new City Hall with fish. Since the “moat” was never intended as a…
Tumwater Long Bridge – 5/20/18
In this early photograph from about 1880, we see the Tumwater Long Bridge spanning the Deschutes Estuary. The homes and businesses of Tumwater are in the background; they succumbed to…
Knights of Pythias Parade – 5/13/18
In June of 1894, during the “golden age of fraternalism” in America, members of the Grand Lodge Knights of Pythias parade up a rain- and mud-soaked Capitol Way in Olympia.…
1965 Earthquake – 4/29/18
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hit the Pacific Northwest on April 29, 1965, causing 7 deaths and millions of dollars of damage. In this photograph from the Daily Olympian, a postal…
Olympia Voc Tech – 4/22/18
Olympia Vocational Technical Institute student Kent Loomey demonstrates a cathode ray oscilloscope in this photograph from 1963. The Institute (later South Puget Sound Community College) was located in the former…
Millersylvania CCC – 4/15/18
During the Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps hired thousands of young men and put them to work building and improving public amenities. CCC members were responsible for building many of…
John Montgomery – 4/8/18
In this Daily Olympian photograph from 1966, Washington State Archivist Sid McAlpin puzzles over a jar of ashes of a person identified only as John Montgomery. No one knew who…
Anna and Maggie – 3/25/18
This sweet photograph from around 1870 commemorates the teenaged friendship of early Olympia residents Anna Pullen and Maggie Sutton. Anna later married printer Martin Kelly and Maggie became a teacher…
Peace Pilgrim – 3/18/18
Peace Pilgrim, born Mildred Lisette Norman, was an American non-denominational spiritual teacher and peace activist. Starting on January 1, 1953, in Pasadena, California, she adopted the name “Peace Pilgrim” and walked across the…
St. Peter Hospital – Sherman St
By the 1920s, St. Peter Hospital had outgrown its original location on what’s now Capitol Campus. The large structure shown here, in West Olympia on Sherman Street, was completed in…
St. Peter Hospital – 3/4/18
St. Peter Hospital was founded by the Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence in 1887, and served the needs of area residents, including many injured loggers. Its original…
Star Laundry – 2/25/18
This photograph of the jovial proprietors of the Star Laundry is one of a series, by photographer Robert Esterly, of local businesspeople. Located on Capitol Way in the bustling Port…
Dr. Lucie Cook
This photograph of Doctor Lucie Cook and her child is one of a series of local businesses and their owners taken by photographer Robert Esterly. Dr. Cook’s office was located…
Roger Easton pen pal – 2/11/18
Roger Easton, a teacher at Mountain View Elementary in Lacey, initiated an international pen pal program between his students and children from around the world. In addition to sending letters,…
Olympia Opera House – 2/4/18
Publisher John Miller Murphy built the Olympia Opera House on Fourth Avenue, about where Orca Books is now. As this photograph from 1890 shows, a trolley line ran by the…
Street vendor – 1/28/18
Photographer Robert Esterly took this photograph of an unnamed street vendor in 1914, as part of his series of local businesses and their proprietors. The photo was taken at the…
Ray Theater – 1/21/18
In the heyday of the motion picture industry, downtown Olympia had several movie theaters. The Zabel family owned several of them. This one, the Ray, was located at the corner…
District heating stack dismantled – 1/14/18
In the early 20th century, veneer plants in the Port of Olympia supplied surplus heat to a central plant that distributed steam heating to the area through underground pipes. The…
City Hall in 1966 – 1/7/18
The “O” shaped Olympia City Hall building, now the Lee Creighton Justice Center on Plum Street, was part of Olympia’s “Committee of the 60s” effort to improve the infrastructure of…
Olympia Veneer – 12/31/17
The Olympia Veneer Company was founded in 1921 as a revolutionary example of a cooperative company, owned by its workers. Located at the far northern tip of the port area,…
“Cheery” Street – 12/24/17
Did a sign painter have Christmas on his mind when he misspelled Cherry Street as Cheery Street? An astute Daily Olympian photographer caught the “typo” in time to print it…
Pool Hall and Taylor Music – 12/17/17
The proprietors of a pool hall pose for their photograph in this photograph from late 1914. A sign in the window of the adjacent E.E. Taylor Music Store asks, Will…
Montgomery Ward Building – 12/10/17
The Montgomery Ward Building was erected in 1928 on Fourth Avenue. Ward’s was a department store and catalogue retailer. The building was repurposed in the early 1960s to serve as…
Abandoned Territorial Capitol in snow – 12/3/17
This photograph from December 1911 shows the abandoned Washington Territorial Capitol in the snow. The structure was eventually razed when Capitol Campus was created a few years later. Photograph selected…
Methodist Church in 1890s – 11/12/17
First United Methodist Church is among Olympia’s earliest congregations. Here we see the original church structure, built 1856, at the corner of Fourth and Adams. The congregation outgrew this structure…
Dick Nichols arrives at KGY – 11/5/17
A young Dick Nichols is welcomed to radio station KGY in 1964. He soon became the beloved Voice of South Puget Sound sports. He served as the station’s announcer for…
Fourth Avenue – 10/22/17
In this 1906 photograph of Fourth Avenue in downtown Olympia, we can see some familiar buildings, and some that are no longer with us. At the left is the three-story…
Furgison collection
Krystalyn Furgison’s father-in-law was given a collection of 39 glass plate negatives, mostly depicting Olympia area residents from around the turn of the 20th century. Ms. Furgison has meticulously researched…
Columbus Day Storm – 10/15/17
The Columbus Day Storm, on October 12, 1962, is considered the most powerful extratropical storm in history. This Daily Olympian photograph, taken at Capitol Lake the day following the storm,…
McElroy House – 10/8/17
Thornton McElroy was the colorful publisher of Olympia’s first newspaper, the Columbian, whose fiery editorials were in part responsible for the creation of Washington as a territory independent of Oregon.…
B’nai Brith meeting – 10/1/17
The Jewish communities of Centralia, Chehalis, Aberdeen, and Elma formed a chapter of the B’nai B’rith in the early 1900s. In this photograph from 1934, the group is meeting in…
Thelma Freitag – 9/24/17
Amateur theatrics were and are a popular source of local entertainment in Olympia, even after the advent of moving pictures. In this photo from about 1925, a young Thelma Freitag…
Olympia band – 9/17/17
In the days before radio and television, home-grown entertainment was an important component of Olympia society. Here a small band poses solemnly for their studio portrait, in about 1885. Photograph…
Civil Defense – 9/10/17
Civil defense was an ever-present concern in the Cold War era. Here a group of Washington Junior High students, in 1962, is led through an exercise involving the evacuation of…
M.M. Morris store – 9/3/17
The M.M. Morris store was a fashionable women’s wear shop in downtown Olympia for many years. It stood at the corner of 5th Avenue and Washington Street in the historic…
Columbia Hall – 8/27/17
The Columbia Hall was built in 1869 on Fourth Avenue near the center of downtown Olympia (the current site of the 4th Ave Tav). It served a myriad of functions:…
Knox Apartments – 8/6/17
Clara Knox built the Knox Apartments and Hotel in the early 20th century. It was located on Washington Street, adjacent to the then-Thurston County Courthouse, now the location of the…
Brown Farm – 7/30/17
In 1913, Asahel Curtis took a series of photographs of the A.L. Brown Farm, in the Nisqually Valley, now part of the Billy Frank Jr. National Wildlife Refuge. This photograph…
Greetings from the Westside – 7/23/17
A view of Olympia from the Westside shows the tidy Konrad Schneider farmhouse in the foreground. In the distance, Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens loom over Budd Inlet, the…
Olympia Hotel – 7/16/17
In the 1880s, it became apparent that Olympia was in urgent need of a hotel that could accommodate the numbers of legislators, lobbyists and hangers-on that appeared on a regular…
Legislative Building TP’ed – 6/25/17
In the summer of 1966, staff arrived at the Legislative Building to find that the Rotunda had been “TP’ed.” The culprit was never found. Photograph selected and captioned by Deborah…
Dick Nichols at KGY – 7/2/17
A young Dick Nichols is welcomed to radio station KGY in 1964. He soon became the beloved Voice of South Puget Sound sports. He served as the station’s announcer for…
Anti-Saloon League Boat Club – 6/18/17
Five young women from prominent Olympia families pose in their club uniforms, holding oars aloft. Their straw hats, adorned with A.S.L. insignia, identify them as members of the Anti-Saloon League…
McAllister sisters moving – 6/11/17
Sisters Pauline McAllister McBride and Ruby McAllister stand outside their home in the Nisqually Valley, where their family had lived for generations. They had been given a 30 day notice…
Liberty Theater – 6/4/17
The Liberty Theater was built around 1924 by the Reed-Ingham Company, which was owned by Thomas M. Reed and his brother-in-law Paul Ingham. It was located at the current site…
Ernie Taylor Music Store – 5/28/17
Ernie Taylor was a popular musician in late 19th and early 20th century Olympia, leading and playing in several bands and orchestras. He owned the E.E. Taylor music store, shown…
Teddy Roosevelt visits Sylvester Park
President Theodore Roosevelt visited Olympia as part of a swing through the western states in May 1903. Here he addresses a large crowd in Sylvester Park, in front of the…
J.E. Kelley – 5/14/17
Pamela Case Hale built the Hale Block at 502 4th Avenue in 1891, during a time of great prosperity for Olympia. In the early 20th century this building was the…
Street “typo” – 5/7/17
The Daily Olympian advised a sign painter to go back to class after misspelling the word School at a city intersection. Photograph selected and captioned by Deborah Ross on behalf…
Lynda in miniskirt – 4/30/17
In 1962, the Olympia Blueprint and Copy Company experienced a sharp uptick in customers when employee Linda Burkey began wearing a mid-thigh length dress to work, which her mother had…
Pacific House – 4/23/17
The Pacific House was one of the earliest hotel/restaurants in Olympia, at the corner of what is now State Avenue and Capitol Way. In 1859, African-American Rebecca Groundage Howard took…
Rockway Leland Building – 4/16/17
The Rockway-Leland Building was built in two stages between 1921 and 1941, the later portion in an Art Moderne style designed by Joseph Wohleb.The building was the home of Olympia…
Gift of Capitol Lake – 4/9/17
In 1962, Sacramento, California’s Camelia Queen Carole Cottrell visited Olympia, Sacramento’s sister city. Bert Cole, State Land Commissioner and Jim Leader, Olympia’s Ambassador of Friendship, presented Carole with a deed…
Blankenship, Georgiana, Old Olympia Landmarks
Old Olympia Landmarks By Georgiana Blankenship From Washington State Library manuscript collection MS0037 Transcribed by Deborah Ross Transcriber’s Note: Double spaced, typed article, undated but probably around 1927 or 1928.…
Memorial Clinic – 4/2/17
The Memorial Clinic building, just east of the Fourth Avenue bridge, designed by local architect father and son team Robert and Joseph Wohleb, was built in 1948. The clinic was…
Frank Guslander mill – 3/26/17
With an abundant source of nearby timber, the wood products industry was an important element of the Thurston County economy for many decades. This image from about 1909 shows the…
Bear cub eludes capture – 3/19/17
In this photo from May 1962, a bear cub eludes capture in downtown Olympia. The cub was on its way to be displayed at the Tumwater Falls Park when it…
St. Michael School groundbreaking – 3/12/17
In this photo from March 12, 1950, parents, children, and Sisters of Providence look on at the groundbreaking for the new St. Michael School building on 10th and Boundary. The…
Olympia streetcar – 3/5/17
The Olympia streetcar system was launched in the late 1800s and ceased operations in the mid-1930s. Here a streetcar is seen proceeding up Main Street (now Capitol Way) toward Tumwater.…
Masonic Hall – 2/26/17
This photograph from 1902 captures the stately Masonic Temple at the corner of 8th Avenue and Capitol Way. Built in 1855 as one of the city’s earliest public structures, it…
Columbia Hall Police – 2/19/17
The Columbia Hall, located where the 4th Ave Tav is now, was a combined police station, fire station, City Hall, and gathering place. Here members of Olympia’s finest pose in…
Territorial Capitol – 2/5/17
The capitol building from Washington’s territorial days sits empty in this photograph from 1911. Between 1905 and 1928, the Washington State Legislature met in the Old State Capitol building downtown,…
Spar Ticker – 2/12/17
In May 1962 attorney general Brock Adams issued an order to stop posting ongoing game scores at public places, on the grounds it promoted illegal gambling. Here Stan Parsons demonstrates…
Percival Children – 1/29/17
Captain Samuel Wing Percival built Percival’s Dock (now the site of Percival Landing) as well as an imposing home with terraced grounds overlooking the Deschutes Estuary and downtown Olympia. In…
Olympia High School domestic science class at AYP – 1/22/17
A group of Olympia High School students poses for a publicity photograph in 1909. Vocational education was a revolutionary concept in the early 20th century. To demonstrate its potential, Oly’s…
Archives Building under construction – 1/15/17
This photograph from 1962 shows the Washington State Archives building under construction. Erected during the cold-war era, the building doubled as a fallout shelter. Just one of its several floors is above…
Olympia Knitting Mills suit – 1/8/17
Olympia Knitting Mills produced sportswear and marketed it throughout the United States. Here, a model demonstrates a daring one-piece knit bathing suit. The Olympia Knitting Mills building is now the…
Palm Grove miniature golf – 1/1/17
Miniature golf was all the rage in the late 1920s and early 30s. In January 1931, the Palm Grove “resort” opened at the corner of Franklin and Fifth. The indoor…
Woodbury Doane – 12/25/16
“Captain” Woodbury J Doane was a well-known figure in early Olympia. He owned Doane’s Oyster House near the corner of 5th Avenue and Washington Street. Here he served up his…
Talcott Brothers – 12/11/16
Three pioneer brothers – Charles, Grant, and George Noyes Talcott – operated the Talcott Jewelers store on Main Street, now Capitol Way. Here they are shown, as elderly men, with…
Olympia Air Transport – 12/18/16
Olympia Air Transport was a private company offering air services at the Olympia Regional Airport in Tumwater, beginning in the 1930s. After World War II began, the United States government…
Dick Gregory trial – 12/4/16
In the fall of 1966, comedian, actor, and activist Dick Gregory and his wife Lillian were charged with illegal fishing, when they participated in the Native American Fish-In campaign to…
Thanksgiving Football – 11/27/16
The Olympia High School Bears host the Vancouver Trappers on Thanksgiving Day in 1929. The teams are seen playing on Stevens Field. Olympia High School, then located across the street from Capitol…
Civil Defense – 11/20/16
At the height of the Cold War, many communities participated in Civil Defense exercises designed to prepare us in the event of nuclear attack. Here, Thurston County staffer Jim Falin…
State Capital Museum – 11/6/16
The State Capital Museum, now closed, was a repository of art and artifacts associated with the City of Olympia, the State of Washington, and curiosities from all over the world.…
Tumwater tracks – 11/13/16
An unidentified couple stands along the railroad tracks in Tumwater, around 1910. The old Olympia Brewing Company building can be seen in the background. Much of downtown Tumwater was wiped…
Samuel Woodruff – 10/30/16
Samuel Woodruff poses in an elaborate regal costume for a publicity photograph. Woodruff was an early real estate developer. He was also a talented amateur actor and musician (and distant…
Tilley Stable – 10/23/16
This early photograph shows the Livery Stable operated by Moses Rice Tilley. Established in the 1860s, it was the first stagecoach and livery (carriage rental) business in Olympia, at the…
Olympus Dairy – 10/16/16
Several dairies existed in downtown Olympia in the first part of the 20th century. Olympus Dairy Products was located on the southeast corner of State Avenue and Water Street. Photograph…
Lacey South Sound Center opening – 10/9/16
Bob Blume, a Lacey businessman and real estate developer, has often been called the “Father of Lacey” for his civic contributions, including the effort to incorporate Lacey as a city.…
Parade for “the Canal” – 9/25/16
In 1933 a commission was established to study a proposal to build a canal from the Columbia River to Puget Sound. The project had strong support in Olympia and other…
Olympia Vocational Technical Institute – 10/2/16
In the fall of 1962, the Olympia School District founded the Olympia Vocational Technical Institute (OVTI) in the Montgomery Ward Building on 4th Avenue in downtown Olympia. Here, soon after…
“Three Little Maids” – 9/18/16
In early Olympia, homegrown entertainment was an important element of community life. Here three prominent members of Olympia Society: Drusilla Percival, Clara Woodruff Burr, and Mrs. J.P. Hoyt, pose as…
JJ Brenner Barge – 9/11/16
In 1893, JJ Brenner founded his oyster business near the current site of Bayview Market. Brenner relied on Squaxin and Japanese harvesters, who loaded the oysters onto barges at low…
The Twist – 8/28/16
Youngsters from Jefferson Junior High School (now Jefferson Middle School) demonstrate the old and the new in this photograph from 1962. Pictured are seventh-graders Connie Moore, Dave Hill, Dean Grainger,…
Unfortunate humpback whale – 8/21/16
This unfortunate humpback whale was discovered tangled in log booms in Shelton in late August 1930. When attempts were made to tow it away, it twice escaped from its captors,…
Olympia Canning – 8/14/16
The Olympia Canning Company was established in the Port of Olympia around 1912 and took up an entire block between A and B Avenues. The company processed fruit, vegetables, fish,…
ME George Grocery – 8/7/16
The M.E. George grocery store in the Angelus Hotel building, at the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and Columbia Street, was a long-time downtown fixture. It was owned by lifelong…
Reed Building – 7/31/16
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…
Security Building – 7/24/16
The Security Building on Fourth Avenue was Olympia’s first “skyscraper,” at five stories! The building features elaborate rosettes and pineapple motifs, a variety of rare stones, and mahogany woodwork throughout.…
Capitol Chevrolet – 7/17/16
A crowd gathers outside Capitol Chevrolet for the arrival of the new 1942 model Chevrolet. This building is now the home of Ramblin’ Jack’s, on Fourth Avenue. Photograph selected and…
Sears Opening in Lacey – 7/10/16
Lt. Governor John Cherberg, with assistance from Lakefair Queen Sue Kilde, is about to cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the new Sears store at the South Sound…
Tenino Fourth of July 7/3/16
Clouds of dust are raised as floats and automobiles parade through Tenino on July 4, around 1913. Leading the parade were horse-drawn floats sponsored by merchants Campbell and Campbell and…
Last Day of Nisqually School – 6/26/16
Students are dismissed on the last day of the Nisqually School, on the Nisqually Cut-off Road, in June of 1962. Students attended school in the Nisqually area from as early…
North Coast bus station – 6/19/16
In about 1937, the North Coast Lines built the art moderne building that stands at the corner of Capitol Way and 7th Avenue, where it was photographed here shortly after…
Pacific Tel building – 6/12/16
The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Building, shown here, stood on Fifth Avenue, where the Washington Business Bank is now. Telephone service was available in Olympia by 1889. In 1908, the…
Plywood factory – 6/5/16
Workers process sheets of plywood at the St. Paul and Tacoma plywood plant in the Port of Olympia, in the 1940s. The plant was established in 1921 as the Olympia…
1008 Prospect Ave. NE
Location: 1008 Prospect Ave NE 1008 Prospect Ave, 1954, Thurston County Assessor 1008 Prospect today (2012), photo by Deb Ross The home at 1008 Prospect Ave is located between…
Fishing arrests 5/30/16
Long before the more widely known Native American “fish-ins,” member of the Nisqually Tribes were defiantly engaged in fishing activities that had been decreed illegal by Washington State. The Department…
Olympia Brewing Company bottle-cap workers – 5/22/16
Olympia Brewing Company, in Tumwater, was an important employer and presence in our community from 1893 to 1983 (with a hiatus during Prohibition). In this photograph from 1940, female workers…
Odd Fellows building – 5/15/16
The imposing Odd Fellows Hall in downtown Olympia was dedicated, to great fanfare, in 1888. Odd Fellows from all over the area arrived to celebrate the completion of one of…
Little Hollywood Float House – 5/8/16
Little Hollywood was the name given to a collection of float houses, businesses, and shanties that occupied the lower end of the Deschutes Estuary in the early part of the…
Centennial Parade – 5/1/16
In May of 1950, the City of Olympia observed its centennial. Celebrations included a log cabin Centennial Headquarters in Sylvester Park, a special edition of the Daily Olympian, and, naturally,…
Livingston baby #12 – 4/24/16
If you meet someone surnamed Livingston in Olympia, there’s a good chance they are children or grandchildren of Al and Anna Mae Livingston. Fourteen children in all were born to…
Kneeland Hotel demolition and outdoor barbershop – 4/17/16
The April 13, 1949 earthquake resulted in damage to or destruction of several downtown Olympia buildings. Here, a barber sets up temporary “shop” along Fourth Avenue, across from the Kneeland…
Percival Mansion terrace – 4/10/16
In this photo from 1949 we see the beginnings of construction of the Fifth Avenue dam and bridge and the Deschutes Parkway. At the right of the image are the…
Olympia Transit – 4/3/16
Before Intercity Transit came into being, the Olympia Transit Company provided service within Olympia and to neighboring communities. Here, in this photo from 1950, the fleet and its drivers are…
William Frank, Sr. – 3/27/16
Nisqually Tribal elder William Frank, Sr. poles a canoe on the Nisqually River in this photograph from March 1962. William Frank was the father of noted activist Billy Frank, Jr.,…
Sylvester Park in early 1950s – 3/20/16
Servicemen enjoy a sunny day in Sylvester Park in the early 1950s. Before I-5 was built, all north-south and east-west travelers had to pass through downtown Olympia. Photograph selected and…
Union Pacific Train Wreck – 3/13/16
On March 13, 1959, a runaway train smashed through the Union Pacific depot on Fourth Avenue and into businesses on the other side of the street, destroying half a block.…
Hunger March – 3/7/16
In early March of 1933, a group of about 4,000 men, women, and children marched to Olympia to protest inadequate relief efforts for unemployed and destitute citizens during the Great…
USO Club – 2/28/16
The USO Club in Olympia opened in early 1942. According to a Daily Olympian article dated January 22, 1942, it had a lounge, library, showers, and cafeteria. The USO (United…
Bordeaux – 2/21/16
Established in the 1890s, the timber town of Bordeaux at one time had a population of over 400 and employed up to 700 workers. It was the site of logging…
Fifth Avenue Dam and Bridge Construction – 2/14/16
In early 1949, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the construction of a dam, bulkhead, and new bridge at the mouth of the Deschutes River, thereby creating Capitol Lake.…
Amanda Benek Smith – 2/7/16
Olympia’s current mayor, Cheryl Selby, is the third woman to hold this office. The first, Amanda Benek Smith, held the office from 1953 to 1960. She was also the first…
Lewis and Clark Trading Post – 1/31/16
The Lewis and Clark Trading Post was located at the eastern end of the Fourth Avenue bridge, and offered repairs, trades, and “Affectionate Tourist Information.” Notable in this photograph from…
American Legion Band at Winged Victory – 1/24/16
The Washington American Legion Band was formed in 1924 by the members of Alfred William Leach Post No. 3 of the American Legion. It is the oldest legion band in…
Banned Book display – 1/17/16
In January 1962, the Olympia Public Library created its first “Banned Book” display, now an annual tradition of the Timberland Regional Library system. The display was in response to an…
St. Peter Hospital on Sherman Street
St. Peter Hospital was founded in 1887 by the Sisters of Providence, at a location now on the grounds of Capitol Campus. The hospital moved to a new building on…
Deschutes Estuary in 1949
In this image from early 1949, the Deschutes Estuary is at high tide and calm on an overcast day. The photo was taken looking north from Tumwater towards Olympia. Construction…
Robert Wadlow at GallenKamp’s
GallenKamp’s was a shoe store chain with a location in downtown Olympia. In 1938, as a publicity stunt, the chain retained Robert Wadlow, the World’s Tallest Man, to undertake a…
The Sanborn Overlays – Instructions and Tips
Each set of Sanborn overlay pages has two possible views: an embedded view that is contained on the page itself, and a linked view that will take you to a larger…
Christmas Island – 12/20/15
In the 1940s Frank Huber created and displayed a life-size crèche on his front lawn, where it was a popular seasonal attraction. In 1959, a coalition of partners acquired the…
St. John’s Sunday School – 12/13/15
A group of well-behaved youngsters listens to a Sunday School lesson at St. John’s Episcopal Church, in 1954. Photograph selected and captioned by Deborah Ross on behalf of the Olympia…
4th Avenue December 1954 – 12/6/15
It’s a dreary, rainy December day in 1954, but Fourth Avenue is decked out in holiday greenery. As can be seen on the route sign, the street was part of…
Doane’s Oyster House – 11/29/15
Doane’s Oyster House stood near the corner of 5th Avenue and Washington Street. “Captain” Woodbury Doane presided, with his famous pan-fried oyster recipe that some claim contributed to Olympia’s being…
Deane Apartments – 11/22/15
A group of workers poses proudly in front of the new Deane Apartment building, in 1936. The building still stands, behind the YMCA, on Adams Street. Photograph selected and captioned…
Daily Olympian building – 11/15/15
This venerable structure stood at the corner of Franklin and Legion, where Selden’s Furniture is now. Over its 65 years of existence, it served many functions, including schoolhouse, Thurston County…
Don Rich – 11/8/15
Olympia-born Donald Eugene Ulrich, best known by the stage name Don Rich (August 15, 1941 – July 17, 1974) was a country musician who helped develop the Bakersfield sound in the early 1960s. He was a noted guitarist and fiddler, and…
Olympia Collegiate Institute – 11/1/15
The Olympia Collegiate Institute was the third in a series of private schools supported by the Methodist Church in Olympia’s early years. This building was located on East Bay Drive,…
Olympia High School band – 10/25/15
Olympia High School (official name: William Winlock Miller High School) has a long and proud tradition of outstanding marching bands. In this photograph from 1950, the band, leader, and majorettes…
Carnegie Library – 10/18/15
The collection that became the Olympia Public Library was begun by the Women’s Club of Olympia in 1896. In 1909, the City took over the collection. Around that time, Andrew…
Barker Motors – 10/11/15
At the outset of the automotive era, Capitol Way became part of the main north-south thoroughfare of the West Coast, first designated the Pacific Highway, then renamed State Route 1,…
Foursquare Church – 10/4/15
The Foursquare Church on Fourth Avenue in Olympia was founded in 1939. The building was constructed with labor and materials supplied by the congregation. This photograph was taken in 1941:…
Paul Wiseman with Mountaineers – 9/27/15
Paul Wiseman, a nearly life-long resident of Olympia, was the founder of the Olympia branch of the Mountaineers. He led trips for the Mountaineers into his ’80s and continued to…
Fallout shelter – 9/20/15
In the fall of 1961, fears of radioactive fallout sent some panicked Olympians to building fallout shelters. For $215, a family could buy a ready-made shelter from the Seamart store…
Lindbergh over Capitol
On September 14, 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, over the relatively new Legislative Building as part of his 48-state tour of the country. Newspaper…
Capitol Theater – 9/6/15
The Capitol Theater, now the home of the Olympia Film Society, was the crowning achievement of the Zabel family, who owned several movie theaters downtown. It includes terra cotta decorations,…
Tenino quarry – 8/30/15
In the late 19th century several sandstone quarries were established in Tenino, Washington. Stone from these quarries shipped for buildings and construction throughout Washington and Oregon, including many distinguished existing…
Capitol Way and Legion – 8/23/15
In this photograph from early 1960s, we are looking north on Capitol Way from the southwest corner of Legion Avenue. Across the way is the Miller’s Department Store, a mid-Century…
9th Avenue – 8/16/15
When we see old photographs of Olympia, it’s sometimes difficult to nail down what we are looking at. There are two clues in this photograph, which was taken in 1928:…
Be-Slim Display – 8/9/15
Diet fads have been with us since at least the 1800s. In the 1950s, miracle pills and powders abounded, as they do today. Many included amphetamines as an active ingredient,…
Miller’s Department Store – 7/26/15
The Miller’s Department Store was located at the important intersection of Capitol and Legion Ways. This mid-Century modern building was erected about 1949, just before the 1949 earthquake, which caused…
Lakefair celebrates Diamond Jubilee – 7/19/15
Lakefair and its parade have been an Olympia fixture since 1957. In 1964, in observance of Washington state’s Diamond Jubilee, the Lakefair princesses and queens were transported down Capitol Way…
Cadillac Dealership – 7/12/15
In 1914, Tumwater resident Robert Esterly took a series of photographs of many of Olympia’s commercial and industrial operations, providing a valuable record of our city as it looked 100…
Grimm Brickyard – 7/5/15
Brickyards existed in and around Olympia from its earliest days. Bricks were made by mining the extensive clay beds around Olympia’s shores, molding them, building wooden kilns to hold them…
Denn Powder Explosion – 6/28/15
On June 27, 1934, a huge explosion at the Denn Powder Company in the community of Lacey resulted in 11 deaths. The company produced dynamite, which was in great demand…
Fish ladder – 6/21/15
The fish ladder at Tumwater Falls was built in the 1950s to provide a pathway for salmon up the Deschutes River. Before the ladder was built, there was no natural…
Bergstrom and Lassen – 6/14/15
In the early 1930s, Bill Bergstrom and Irving Lassen founded Bergstrom’s Sporting Goods store (in the Simenson Jeweler Building) on Fourth Avenue, where the Spider Monkey tattoo parlor is now.…
Bettman Store – 6/7/15
The Bettman family were merchants in Olympia from very early days. Their men’s clothing store was in business downtown on Capitol Way until the 1970s (see also Bettman First Store,…
Forest Memorial Gardens – 5/31/15
The Forest Cemetery, now Forest Memorial Gardens, was established in 1857 by early pioneers. Several members of the Bigelow family are buried here. The cemetery was later referred to as…
Percival Mansion – 5/24/15
The Percival Mansion, the home of pioneers Samuel W.and Lurana Percival, is one of the more recognizable structures in early Olympia images. It was built by Benjamin Harned in 1874,…
Littlerock School – 5/17/15
In the early days of statehood, one room schoolhouses were the norm throughout Thurston County. Here a stern looking teacher has charge of a group of 27 youngsters at the…
May 11, 2015
Whitlock Collection, Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum This week marks the 70th anniversary of V-E day, the end of the European conflict in World War II. On May…
Alice Padilla Salon – 4/5/15
Alice Padilla, left, opens a new hair salon in Tumwater in 1950. The salon featured Thomasine Andre, “a hair stylist from Hollywood,” probably shown at Alice’s right. It was located…
Bayview Hotel – 4/12/15
The Bayview Hotel was located on Third Avenue (now State Street) in Olympia. Third Avenue was the dividing line between the “respectable” part of downtown and the Dead Zone, or…
Youth in Government – 3/29/15
The Washington State YMCA-sponsored Youth in Government program was begun in 1947, just a few years after the first such program was founded in New York State. Some of our…
Chambers Prairie Cherry Tree – 3/22/2015
David Chambers arrived in this area in 1848, a member of the very early pioneer Chambers family. On the migration west, he brought with him fruit tree saplings and planted…
Gowey House – 3/15/15
John Gowey was an important citizen of Olympia, who served in many local and territorial capacities and eventually rose to the level of consul of Japan, where he died. His…
Capitol Way Bricking – 3/8/15
Until the early 20th century, Capitol Way (or, as it was known then, Main Street), was unpaved. It was a muddy mess in the rainy season, and dusty in the…
Governor Hotel Dining Room – 3/1/15
Vibert Jeffers photograph, 1939, Susan Parish Collection, Southwest Regional Archives The Governor Hotel, across from Sylvester Park on Capitol Way, has a long and distinguished history. In 1890 the hotel…
William Owen Bush Farm – 2/22/15
1945, C.R. Jenson Photograph, Susan Parish Collection, Southwest Regional Archives William Owen Bush was the eldest of six sons of the pioneer George and Isabella Bush family. Carrying on his…
Miles Sporting Goods – 2/15/15
1937, Vibert Jeffers photograph, Susan Parish Collection, Southwest Regional Archives This image from February 1937 shows the result of a successful cougar hunt. Elwyn Miles, the owner of the Miles…
“1063 Building” – 2/8/15
1951 Susan Parish Collection, Southwest Regional Archives The Capital Park building, commonly known as the “1063 Building” after its address on Capitol Way, was erected in 1931 by the Dawley…
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…
Shanna Stevenson
Shanna Stevenson is a long-time local historian in Olympia. Formerly the Historic Preservation Officer for Olympia, Thurston County and Tumwater. From 2006 to 2014 she served the Washington State Historical Society as…
Dwight Moody
Dwight has been a resident of Olympia since moving here at the age of one (1965). Dwight graduated from Olympia High School and now serves as Historian on the Olympia…