In 1893, JJ Brenner founded his oyster business near the current site of Bayview Market. Brenner relied on Squaxin and Japanese harvesters, who loaded the oysters onto barges at low tide and then brought them into Olympia. This photograph, of a tugboat hauling Brenner’s oyster barges, is from about 1935. The Brenner company still exists, now headquartered in Shelton. 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.
Vibert Jeffers photograph, around 1935, Susan Parish Collection, Southwest Regional Archives