Century 21 “welcoming pole” (fragments only remaining)

Location: 211 21st St SW
mid-Century modern; South Capitol National Historic District; Popular Culture

Welcoming pole installed at State Capital Museum 1963, Daily Olympian photo courtesy Washington State Historical Society

Century 21 pole in 2015, photo by Deborah Ross

The 1962 Century 21 World’s Fair in Seattle was a major event Puget Sound, garnering attention, press, outreach, and competition for tourist dollars in the Olympia area as well. One year after the exposition closed, the Cascade Pole Company created a replica of one of the space age “welcoming poles” that greeted visitors to the south entrance of the fair. The pole was designed by noted architect Fred Bassetti. This pole stood outside the State Capital Museum (Lord Mansion) until 1990, when it was taken down. It now sits in gradual decay behind a storage shed on the mansion’s grounds. The pole is inventoried but not on the local register. It is within the boundaries of the South Capitol National Historic District. The DAHP inventory sheet linked below has photographs both of the original poles in Seattle and of this pole when it was in place in Olympia.

More information:

Heritage Inventory

mid-Century Modern Context Statement, p. 55