Location: 513 Flora Vista Dr NE
Women’s history; Religious institutions
Five Firs (lower right, cropped from photo that includes Floravista bulb farm), 1947, courtesy Kathy Farr |
Five Firs Point today (2014) photograph by Deb Ross |
In the late 19th and early 20th century, it was not uncommon for Olympia’s social elite to own summer homes or land to which they would retreat during the heat of the season (see also, for example, Butler’s Cove). George and Georgiana Blankenship established Five Firs Point here just north of Squaxin Park, in 1910. Their winter home was the Blankenship House near Capitol Campus. The house was on property previously owned by the oblate mission that gave Priest Point its name. The home was a classic craftsman style structure and, according to the City of Olympia inventory, well maintained prior to its acquisition by the City and annexation to Squaxin (formerly Priest Point) Park. The home was demolished some time after 2001.
The Blankenships were a well-known Olympia couple: they were both writers on local history. George Blankenship was a member of the pioneer Thurston County Yantis family. Georgiana was a journalist and writer, originally from Spokane, who took on the task of interviewing the aging pioneer families of Thurston County. Five Firs Point was a popular visiting and stopping point for the Blankenships’ friends and relatives, who typically would sail or row out to spend the day or a weekend.
Thank you to Kathy Farr, whose parents acquired Five Firs and the adjacent property developed into the Floravista bulb farm.
More information:
For more information on the Blankenship family, see the Residents section of this website.
Copyright © 2022 Deborah Ross