Locations after M – Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum

Track House – destroyed by fire March 19, 2023

March 21, 2023

Location: 511 7th Ave SE
Popular culture

Track House party, about 1996, courtesy Pat Castaldo

Track House after fire, March 2023, Photograph courtesy of Deb Ross

The Track House, so called due to its proximity to the railroad tracks adjacent to the house, was likely built in the late 19th century and moved to this location on 7th Avenue near Jefferson Street some time between 1939 and 1945. In the 1990s it became a venue for music parties featuring Olympia’s Indie music scene. The home was purchased in about 2002 by an area dentist who owns several homes in Olympia, many painted black, and hence dubbed the Black Houses. The building continued to serve as a residence and performance venue through the early decades of the 21st century. It burned down in March 2023.

Links to more information:

Cooper Point Journal article, Track House Changes Hands after Years of Shows, April 2015

Impose Magazine, The Storied History of Olympia’s Track House, undated

Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation listing

National Wood Pipe site

February 9, 2012

Location: Northeast corner of Jefferson and Thurston

The National Wood Pipe factory on fire in 1909
photograph from Digital Archives

As the former location of the pipe factory appears today (2011), the home of the Hands on Children’s Museum

Photograph courtesy of Deb Ross

With the importance of water and water supply to the residents and industry of Olympia, a wooden pipe factory was in existence since early days. The National Wood Pipe Company built this factory in the late 1800s or early 1900s as part of a west coast chain of factories. The Pacific states used wood pipe extensively for drinking water as well as irrigation supplies. The 1909 fire was a major event of that year, and would have occurred around the time of the Carlyon Fill project.

For more information about and historical photographs of the building, follow these links:

Digital Archives photograph of the fire

Neuffer Building/Site of Dr. Waughop residence

February 9, 2012

Location: 513 Capitol Way S
Downtown Olympia National District, Diversity: African-Americans

Waughop Residence about 1875, Image courtesy of Washington State Historical Society

Neuffer Building today (2012), Photo by Deb Ross

In early years the west side of Main Street (Capitol Way) south of Fifth Avenue directly overlooked the Deschutes Estuary (Capitol Lake). (See the Bird’s Eye View 1879 link below.) Fill added land to the west, creating Columbia Street and Water Street. The residence at left above belonged to Dr. Waughop, an early doctor in Olympia. Note the presence of their African-American servant Augusta Sherwood at ground level, while the doctor and family are at the elevated first floor.

The Neuffer building currently at this location was built in 1906 and had two stores. The storefront at the north was the Neuffer Jewelry store, while the store to the south was originally a tailor shop, and the home of the Baude Barber Shop at the time of the Robert Esterly photograph linked below. It has been a flower shop since 1926.

Further information:

Washington State Historical Society photographs (enter catalog numbers in Collections Search box): C1982.18.30.11 (above picture); C1964.26.4.2.2 (building in about 1939); 2010.149.33.1 (Baude Barbershop)

Olympia Heritage inventory

National Historic Downtown District

For more information on the Waughop and Neuffer families, see the Residents (W) and (N) sections of this website, and the Neuffer house

Bird’s Eye View of Olympia 1879

Neuffer House

May 25, 2013

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 House, in the same neighborhood, owned by Paul Neuffer’s son). It is on the local register and is in the South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood.

Additional resources:

Olympia Heritage inventory

South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood

Thank you to Susan Goff for information on built date.

For more on the Neuffer family, see the Residents section of this website.

Neuffer, Paul and Catherine House

November 23, 2013

Location: 510 O’Farrell St SE
Local register

A vintage photograph has not been located; if you have one to share, please contact us

Paul and Catherine Neuffer house today (2013) photo by Deb Ross

This home, built about 1922, was one of the first residences built in the new Wildwood subdivision, which was platted that year by J.T. Otis, a local real estate developer and businessman. It is in the Craftsman/bungalow style popular at the time, distinguished for its cobblestone fireplace and features. It is on the local register. The house was built for Paul C. Neuffer and his wife, Catherine. Paul was the adopted son of Paul H. Neuffer, who owned Neuffer Jewelers. Paul H’s home, the Neuffer House, in the South Capitol neighborhood, is also on the local register. Paul, Jr. was one of the so-called “doorstep babies” who appeared on citizens’ thresholds in the late 1800s.

Olympia Heritage inventory

PCTV/TCTV video on Bigelow Highlands neighborhood, recounting Doorstep Baby phenomenon

Workingman’s Hill, chapter 9 on the Doorstep Baby phenomenon

New Caldonia building

November 8, 2013

Location: 116 5th Avenue
Downtown National Historic District

Proffitt’s Department Store, 1970, Susan Parish Collection, Washington State Archives

New Caldonia building today (2017) photograph by Deb Ross

According to its owner, the building now called the New Caldonia building was the site of the Caledonia Hotel in the 1870s. By 1914 it was the home of a hardware store, and a Sanborn map still shows that a hardware store was at that site in the 1920s. It was remodeled or rebuilt in 1941 to become part of the Proffitt’s store chain. It has been remodeled at least twice since that time and now houses a variety of small stores. The building is located in the National Downtown Olympia historic district, but is listed as non-contributing.

Additional links (note that the Downtown National Historic District incorrectly place the Ray Theatre at the site of this building):

Washington State Historical Society (enter catalog number in Collections Search box), C1986.43.0.269

Downtown National Historic District

Newcomb House

February 9, 2012

Location: 1264 State St NE

Newcomb House, 1937, photo from Thurston County Assessor, Washington State Archives

Newcomb House today (2010), photo by Deborah Ross

The Newcomb House was built about 1890 and was the residence of Dr. Newcomb, who arrived in Olympia about the same time. It sits on an elevated position above State Street. It is described as being in the vernacular style with few adornments.

For more information follow these links:

Olympia Heritage inventory (note that the 1916 construction date given in the inventory is at odds with assessor’s information as well as the estimated age provided by more contemporary historian Adah Dye)

Washington State Historical Society (enter catalog number in Collections Search box): C1964.26.4.13.8

For more information about Doctor Newcomb, see the Residents section of this website

Northern Pacific depot

February 9, 2012

Location: 721 Columbia St SW
Transportation, mid-Century

Northern Pacific Railroad depot around 1914, photo courtesy of Washington State Historical Society

Northern Pacific Depot today (2012), photo by Matt Kennelly

The first Northern Pacific depot, pictured at above left, was built in about 1891, the year that the Northern Pacific railroad reached downtown Olympia (see also 7th Avenue Tunnel). It was a long clapboard building with a platform facing the tracks adjacent to the Deschutes Estuary (now Capitol Lake). This building was razed in 1966 and replaced by the current building, with similar architecture, in 1967. Following the demise of passenger service to downtown Olympia, this building was acquired by the state and is currently (2012) vacant.

For more information follow these links:

Olympia Heritage inventory

Washington State Historical Society (enter the following catalog numbers in Collection Search box): 2010.149.31.2, 2010.149.42.2, C1964.26.4.4.7, C1958.1328.5

Two photos from Moody Collection: with water tower in background. ; with Fourth Avenue bridge in background

Odd Fellows Hall site/Rexall Drug Store building

February 9, 2012

Location: 501 Capitol Way SE
Downtown National Historical District, Wohleb, mid-Century; Diversity: African-Americans

Odd Fellows Building around 1900
Photo from Digital Archives

Rexall Drug Building today (2012)
Photo courtesy of Deb Ross

The Odd Fellows Hall, built at the southwest corner of 5th and Capitol Way in 1888, was an important addition to downtown Olympia and was in fitting with her stature as the most important city on Puget Sound at the time. According to a history of the lodge:

Th[e inauguration of the building] was a gala day for Olympia and was participated in by all surrounding Lodges. Excursion steamers were run from Seattle and Tacoma, bringing crowds of Odd Fellows accompanied with bands of music and banners, and it is safe to say Olympia never saw such a gathering of Odd Fellows and the hospitalities extended that day will be long remembered by those whose good fortune it was to be the recipients.

The building was also home to Thornburg’s Furnishings store, a hotel, the Rainier, and the Northern Express building at the west end. Bill Williams, an African-American former gold miner and restauranteur, located a boot-blacking stand here, after poor health forced him to take up a more sedentary life. His many years on the seas and among miners made him fluent in several languages, and his career as a boot-black was an opportunity for him to live in relative comfort and become an important element in the social life of downtown Olympia.

The building burned down on January 7, 1937. The Odd Fellows chose not to rebuild, but moved their meeting place to the Barnes building, where they continue to meet on the second floor.

The current building was built in 1937 with a Wohleb design, and he remodeled the building in 1957 for use as a Rexall Drug Store (photograph of the fire, linked below, indicate that the Odd Fellows building had a Rexall store at ground level at the time). The location was then a men’s clothing store. It is in the Downtown National Historic District.

Before the Odd Fellows building was erected here, the organization met in a two story building, since demolished, now the site of the Capitol Theater annex.

For more information about and historic photographs of the building, follow these links:

Digital Archives photographs of the building and fire: OF1 (above photo), (fire and aftermath: OF2, OF3)

Washington State Historical Society photographs (enter following catalog numbers in Collections Search box): C1943.2x.35, C1972.37.12; 2010.149.3.2; 2010.149.22; 2010.149.18.2 (Northern Express)

Private postcard collection

Excerpts from 1913 Narrative of IOOF relating to Olympia Lodge No. 1

National Downtown District (location 28)

Thurston.com article about working at Rexall Drugstore (accessed October 20, 2013)

Information about Bill Williams from City of Olympia’s Black Pioneers Walking Tour

Ogden House

January 2, 2015

Location: 301 Maple Park SE
South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood

Ogden House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives

Ogden House today (2014), Photo courtesy of Deb Ross

In the early part of the 20th Century, Maple Park was one of the more socially desirable locations in Olympia. Gracious and large homes flanked the park, which was planted with flowers and lovingly maintained. A bandstand hosted regular summer concerts, and a tall flagpole with a gold globe surmounting it crowned the park. The park was flanked by homes of Olympia’s wealthy citizens, including the A.D. Rogers home and the house featured here, the Ogden House. Unfortunately, most of the homes originally located here were demolished or moved to make way for the expansion of Capitol Campus to the east side of Capitol Way.

The Ogden House was built in 1896 for lumberman Harold Ogden in the Shingle Style. This style, initiated in the east and somewhat rare in the Pacific Northwest, features use of shingles for siding, and often uses turrets, multiple ornamental details, and massive stone (in this case, ornamental concrete) foundations. It would have been one of the more important homes in Olympia when built, and continues to be an important architectural feature of the South Capitol National Historic District.

The home is also connected with the pioneer Mills family, having been owned by Helen Merritt and George Mills, who also owned the George Mills/Kent House on East Bay Drive. George was a land registrar, teacher, and hardware store operator. George’s brother Jesse owned the Parker/Mills House nearby, and was operator of the Mills and Mills funeral parlor.

In later years, the house was lodging for bachelor lawyer, and took the name “Empty Arms.” The house is well maintained, although a few features have been modified.

For more information about and historic photographs of the building, see:

Olympia Heritage inventory

South Capitol National Historic District

For more on the Mills family, see the Residents section of this website

Old City Hall/Fire Station/”Dead Zone” (Tenderloin District)/Tilley stable site

February 9, 2012

Location: 108 State Ave NW
Local Register, State Register, National Historic Downtown District, Women’s History, Transportation

Tilley Stable, date unknown, Susan Parish Collection, Washington State Archives

Old City Hall today (2012), Photo by Matthew Kennelly

According to historian Bernice Sapp, the first non-Indigenous American occupation of this site was Moses Rice Tilley’s Overland Stage stable. The Tilley family operated not only this first stagecoach line, but Moses Tilley’s father, Abram, operated a popular inn on the Oregon Trail route from Monticello (Longview) to Olympia. (As an aside, Moses Rice Tilley’s daughter Maybelle was an internationally recognized beauty who eventually became Countess Stavra)

For a time, between the 1880s and 1910s, the area north of State Avenue was known as the Dead Zone, or tenderloin district. Here activities, such as gambling and prostitution, that were banned elsewhere in town, were permitted. The area was also the home of industrial facilities and commercial businesses such as laundries and bars that supported the marine trade in the area. After the Carlyon Fill added many blocks of buildable property north of State Avenue, this area was gradually transformed into an industrial area.

The Old City Hall and Fire Station currently at this site was the seat of government and the fire station for over fifty years. It was built in 1912 to replace the deteriorating Columbia Hall on 4th Avenue.

The location is important to women’s history in Olympia for at least three reasons: the first woman city mayor of a capital city, Amanda Smith, presided from here; and the first woman firefighter in Olympia, Barbara Greene, began her service here. The location likely also accommodated houses of prostitution, based on its designation as a “female boarding house” (initials F.B.) in early maps (see Sanborn overlays for maps).

Further information:

Washington State Historical Society photographs (enter the following catalog numbers in Collections Search box): C1982.18.29.16 (fire station); C1949.1301.31.10

Olympia Heritage inventory (Old Olympia City Hall)

National Historic Downtown District

Olympia Women’s History Walking Tour

Now Where Were We? short video on the Red Light District.

For more information on the Tilley family, see the Residents section of this website.

Old State Capitol Building

February 9, 2012

Location: 600 Washington Street Southeast
National Register, State Register, Local Register, National Historical D