Looking Back’s theme for 2025 featured Thurston County area photographers, artists, and their subjects. L. Wilson Clark was a very early photographer in Olympia. His studio was on Main Street (now Capitol Way); he photographed subjects in Thurston and Pierce counties. Pictured here is settler James Offut also spelled Offutt) with a bundle of hops (Offut Lake is named for this family).
L. Wilson Clark photo, 1860-1870, courtesy State Capital Museum Collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1943.1008.1
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2025