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: fire station on the ground floor, city offices above, entertainment hall (it hosted the state’s first inaugural ball in 1889), police headquarters, courthouse, and theater. Photograph selected and captioned by Deborah Ross on behalf of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum. More information is available at olympiahistory.org.
1902, Williams Romans photograph, courtesy Washington State Historical Society