Preserving a Living Memorial to Our Veterans
November 8, 2-4pm, Madison Elementary School gym Mark your calendar for this free community event. We will learn about the history of the Legion Way trees from historian Jennifer Crooks,…
Equality Day at the Bigelow House August 24, 2025 from 1 to 4 pm
Visit the Bigelow House for a special event commemorating women’s voting rights. The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution was certified in August 1920 empowering most women nationally to vote.…
New Tour Hours at the Bigelow House Museum–Women’s History Month in March
The Bigelow House Museum is now open all Sundays for tours at 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00 pm. In honor of Women’s History Month, March tours will feature information about the…
Simmons Party Monument: Community Conversation
February 20, 2025. 6 – 8 p.m. Abigail Stuart House 1002 Washington St SE, Olympia, WA 98501 Free. Light refreshments will be provided. RSVP here. Join us for an evening…
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at 7:00 pm: An Evening with Sam Reed
The Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum hosts former WA Secretary of State Sam Reed and author John C. Hughes in this conversation about Reed’s three-terms as Washington’s Secretary of…
Give Local is Here!
The Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum is participating in the Community Foundation of Puget Sound’s Give Local 2024 which begins November 11, 2024 and continues through November 22,…
2024 Holiday Tour of Historic Homes Benefiting the Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum
The Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum is sponsoring the Holiday Tour of Historic Home on Sunday, December 8, 2024 from noon to 4:00 pm featuring six historic properties…
SAVE THE DATE 12/8/24: ANNUAL HOLIDAY HISTORIC HOME TOUR
Featuring five homes in the South Capitol Neighborhood Historic District. Open house at the Bigelow House Museum
SAVE THE DATE 9/26/24: CHINESE EXCLUSION AND RESILIENCE IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Be sure to save Thursday evening September 26th to hear Nicholas Vann give this fascinating talk on Chinese Exclusion and Resilience in the Built Environment. Former Washington Deputy State Historic…
A CALL for PHOTOGRAPHS: FACES OF OLYMPIA TO BE DISPLAYED AT 108 STATE THIS FALL
The Olympia Arts & Heritage Alliance (AHA) is creating a new exhibit with a professional curator called Faces of Olympia, to display in the 48 windows on the east façade…
WE’RE HIRING!
The Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum (OHS & BHM) seeks to hire a part-time staff person to coordinate and manage implementation of the society’s expanded tour, education, and outreach activities…
“Bigelow House in Style” at the Bigelow House Museum
Visitors to the Bigelow House Museum can enjoy “The Bigelow House in Style” through August. The house is open for guided tours at 1, 2, and 3 pm on the…
Join the fun for the Bigelow House Museum Scavenger Hunt!
Download the clue sheet here to redeem for a special prize on the first and second Sundays of the month from 1 to 4 pm during open tour hours or…
Charles Mitchell’s Flight to Freedom
Olympia Arts + Heritage Alliance (AHA) in partnership with the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum and City of Olympia are sponsoring a presentation and discussion about the compelling…
OHS & BHM 2024 Annual Meeting Celebrates Olympia History
The Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum (OHS & BHM) hosted their 2024 Annual Membership Meeting on Saturday, January 27th at the Olympia Center. At the top of the…
OHS & BHM Annual Meeting January 27, 2024
Come join us on Saturday, January 27, 2024 for the OHS & BHM Annual Meeting. The meeting begins at 1:00 pm. This year, our program commemorates the 170th anniversary of…
Holiday Open House on 12/10
The Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum invites the community to a Holiday Open House at the Bigelow House Museum at 918 Glass Avenue NE in Olympia on Sunday, December 10, 2023 from 1 to 4…
SUPPORT THE OHS & BHM THROUGH THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION’S GIVE LOCAL 2023 FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
The Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum is participating this year in the Community Foundation of Puget Sound’s Give Local 2023 which begins November 6, 2023 and continues through…
Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum Seeks Applicants for the Roger Easton History Grant
The Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum will award a $2000 history grant along with a $500 teacher stipend in 2024, provided by funds from long-time Thurston County Teacher…
Summer Event–August 26, 2023
Join OHS & BHM Board Member Paul Parker for a tour of the Bigelow Neighorhood beginning at 11:00 am on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at the Bigelow House. The 45-minute…
Summer Tour Event–August 26, 2023
Join OHS & BHM Board Member Paul Parker for a tour of the Bigelow Neighborhood beginning at 11:00 am on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at the Bigelow House. The 45-minute…
Bigelow House Museum Now Open for Tours
The updated and revitalized Bigelow House Museum will open for visitors starting June 4, 2023 on the first two Sundays of every month at 1, 2, and 3 pm. All…
Join us for an Evening with Dick Pust on June 29th at Harbor House
The Olympia Historical Society-Bigelow House Museum (OHS & BHM) invites all to enjoy a program by longtime KGY radio host and South Sound personality icon Dick Pust. He will present…
HELP US SOLVE A LOCAL HISTORY MYSTERY: THE KGY TIRE PRANK OF 1973
Whodunit? The Olympia Historical Society-Bigelow House Museum (OHS-BHM) is seeking help to solve a 50 year-old local mystery of who pranked radio station KGY during the early morning hours of…
Jeffers returning from hunt – 5/1/22
Brothers Joseph and H.R. Jeffers founded a photography business in 1904, at the southeast corner of Washington Street and 5th Avenue. Their original studio is shown in this 1908 photo…
Jill Rosenkrantz
Jill was born and raised in Aberdeen, Washington and graduated from Weatherwax High School (the historic building that burned down in 2002). She graduated from the University of California, Santa…
Vickie MacMillan
Vickie was born in Olympia, the first child of the fourth generation of her family to live in Thurston County. She attended Garfield Elementary, Jefferson and Washington middle schools, and…
Thurston County Courthouses Through History
This page is part of a collaboration between the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum and the Thurston County Courts History Committee. Text developed by Thurston County Courts History…