Looking Back’s theme for 2025 featured Thurston County area photographers, artists, and their subjects. William B. Conser was a photographer for the Olympian who captured many events and people, including an historic series that documented the destruction caused by the 1949 earthquake. Shown here is the elaborate scaffolding and tramway erected to repair the lantern atop the Legislative Building.
Conser photograph for the Olympian, about 1950, courtesy State Capital Museum Collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1986.36.51
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2025