Barnes-Osterhout House

Location: 1633 Eastside St SE

Barnes/Osterhout House 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives

Barnes/Osterhout House today (2015), photo by Deb Ross

When it was erected in about 1908, this home on Eastside Street would have been considered remote from downtown. It abutted the city’s waterworks in what is now Watershed Park. The home is of a unique design with a two-story bay window. (When architectural historians cannot use a well-known style to describe a building, they call it “vernacular”.) Frank Barnes, the original owner, managed the Postal Telegraph office downtown. Later on the home was owned by the Osterhout family.

Olympia Heritage inventory

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 Roger Easton. Eligible applicants are K-12 teachers, student teachers, administrators, or classroom professionals in accredited schools in Thurston County. The successful applicant will use grant…
September 18, 2023
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 tour involves significant walking. The Bigelow House is also hosting an Equality Day Commemoration on August 26, 2023 beginning at 11:30 am at the Bigelow…
August 24, 2023
Summer Tour Event–August 26, 2023
July 20, 2023

William Owen Bush – 10/1/23
Throughout 2023 we’ll be exploring the origins of area place names. The family of George and Isabella Bush arrived in Thurston County in 1844, among the first non-Indigenous American settlers. Bush Prairie, five miles south of Olympia, is named for the family, as is Tumwater’s Bush Middle School. Pictured here is son William Owen Bush.…
October 1, 2023
Michael T. Simmons – 9/24/23
Throughout 2023 we’ll be exploring the origins of area place names. Simmons Street, in Olympia, is named for the Simmons family, early settlers in Thurston County. Michael and Elizabeth Kindred Simmons arrived in Thurston County in 1845, as part of the Simmons-Bush Party. Simmons and others had interests in mills on the Deschutes River in…
September 24, 2023
Clarence Martin – 9/17/23
Throughout 2023 we’ll be exploring the origins of area place names. Martin Way was named for Washington State Governor Clarence Martin, pictured here. He served from 1933 to 1941. Governor Martin was on hand when the road was dedicated in 1937; it became an important component of the Washington State segment of the Pacific Coast…
September 17, 2023