In early days of western cities’ development, municipal water was conducted through threaded wooden pipes, a healthier and cheaper material than lead. Our thriving port, with its abundant nearby forest resources, was a natural location for wood-based industries. The National Wood Pipe Company established a factory at the north end of Olympia’s central peninsula (near the current Hands On Children Museum), shipping its products up and down the west coast.Unfortunately, a spectacular fire destroyed the factory in 1909.
State Library Collection, Digital Archives, AR-07809001-ph000916
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian