Between 2014 and 2026, the Sunday Olympian published a weekly image, accompanied by a short caption, about a place, event, or person from our area’s history. The feature was curated by Deborah Ross on behalf of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House museum.

This page is an interactive list of the Looking Back features that appeared over the years, with additional links to other pages on our website or elsewhere. Dates, when indicated, represent the date that the item first appeared in the Olympian. 

• 5th Avenue “Demo” project ribbon cutting in 1981
• Washington Center under construction in 1983
• Oil Tanks at Port of Olympia
• Olympic Theater
• Evergreen Plaza – 8/30/26
• Mottman Mrcantile closing – 8/23/26
• CY Wong and the China Clipper – 8/16/26
• Mercury Comet at Kearns Motor – 8/9/26
• IBM with THINK desktop – 8/2/26
• Olympia Centennial Parade – 7/27/26
• 5th Avenue Dam Construction – 7/19/26
• 5th Avenue in the 1940s
• Little Hollywood – 7/12/26
• USO – 6/28/26
• 1949 Earthquake – 6/21/2026
• Olympia in 1873 by Emily O. Kimball – 1/25/26
• Odd Fellows Fire – 6/7/26
• Bookmobile at Carnegie Library – 5/31/26
• Downtown in the 1920s – 5/24/26
• Olympia Oyster Truck – 5/17/26
• Olympia Knitting Mills – 5/10/26
• Pekin Cafe – 5/3/26
• Chambers Block in 1914 – 4/26/26
• Waterfront – 2/19/26
• Carlton Hotel – 4/12/26
• Masonic Temple – 4/5/26
• Paving Fourth Avenue – 3/29/26
• Olympia Opera House – 3/22/26
• Main Street in the 1890s – 3/15/26
• Columbia Fire Company number 2 – 3/8/26
• Talcott’s – 3/1/26
• Land Office – 2/22/26
• Olympia Hotel – 2/15/26
• Sam Williams home – 2/8/26
• Main Street 1876 – 2/1/26
• Fourth Avenue in the 1860s – 1/18/26
• Sylvester Mansion – 1/11/26
• James Alden early image of Olympia – 1/4/26
• Territorial Legislative Building by Blankenship and Winstanley – 12/28/25
• Robert Blankenship and friend with bicycles – 12/21/25
• Squaxin Home – James Wickersham photo – 12/14/25
• James Wickersham – 12/7/25
• Clark Savidge by Frank Camp – 11/30/25
• Columbia Hall by Oscar Sternberg – 11/23/25
• Lurana Ware Percival by Joseph Buchtel – 11/16/26
• Si’ahl (Chief Seattle) by Edward Sammis – 11/9/25
• Samuel Holmes Daguerrotypist – 11/2/15
• William Yeager charcoal portrait
• Hal Wolfe and Rags Thornton – photo by Ron Allen
• Ron Allen – 10/5/25
• Capitol Way – J. Boyd Ellis
• Garden Party hosted by Viretta Chambers Denny
• John V. Yantis and Margaret Hume Yantis – 8/24/25
• Legislative Building construction – Joseph McKnight
• Northern Pacific depot – Michael O’Connor photo – 8/10/25
• Michael O’Connor – 8/2/25
• Dress rehearsal – by William Duckering – 7/27/25
• Grand Parade of Progress – Best Photography Studio – 7/13/25
• 4th Avenue by Huntington Brothers – 7/20/25
• James Offut by L. Wilson Clark – 7/6/25
• James Alden painting of early Olympia
• Belle Bush Gaston by Agnes Mitchel – 6/22/25
• Legislative Building repair – William Conser – 6/8/25
• William Conser – 6/1/25
• State Patrol by Merle Junk – 5/25/25
• Merle Junk – 5/18/25
• Eliza Olney – 5/11/25
• Charles M. Moore – 5/4/25
• Ida B. Smith Studio – 4/27/25
• Bus Station by Vibert Jeffers – 4/20/25
• Ida B. Smith self portrait – 4/14/25
• Vibert Jeffers – 4/6/25
• Jeffers Building – 3/30/25
• Joe Jeffers studio – 3/23/25
• Little Rock logging by Clark Kinsey – 3/16/2025
• Edna Rogers – 3-9-25
• A.D. Rogers – 3/2/25
• Grand Parade of Progress – 2/23/25
• Robert Chamberlain – 2/16/25
• Percival Wharf by Robert Esterly
• Robert Esterly on a bear hunt – 2/2/25
• Painting by James Tilton Pickett – 1/26/25
• James Tilton Pickett – 1/19/25
• Josie Clark Woodard – 1/12/25
• A.B. Woodard – 1/5/25
• Ann Elizabeth White Bigelow – 12/29/24
• Augusta Sherwood – 12/22/24
• Ernest Cheeka – 12/15/24
• William Owen Bush – 12/8/24
• Cora Pinson – 12/1/24
• Barb O’Neill: 11/24/24
• The Bean family – 11/17/24
• Marlon Brando and Fish Wars – 11/10/24
• Chinatown – 11/3/24
• Thomas Park – 10/27/24
• William Frank, Sr – 10/20/24
• Margaret Whyte – 10/13/24
• Ed Westman – 9/29/24
• Olympia Junk – 9/22/24
• Slocum and Yowaluch – 9/15/24
• Kay’s Chop Suey – 9/8/24
• Pacific House – 9/1/24
• Ralph Munro at Camp Pendleton – 8/25/24
• Edward Salomon – 8/18/24
• Joyce Simmons Cheeka – 8/11/24
• James family – 8/4/24
• Catherine McLeod Mounts
• Festus Campbell – 7/21/24
• Del McBride – 7/14/24
• Henry Harris – 7/7/24
• Locke family – 6/16/24
• Jocelyn Dohm – 6/1/24
• William Bettman – 5/26/24
• Quiemuth – 5/19/24
• Nettie Chiang – 5/12/24
• Jish Jish – 4/28/24
• Trena Selvidge Belsito Worthington – 3/31/24
• Oyster Harvesters – 3/24/24
• Pekin Cafe – 3/17/2024
• Kanaka Jack and Katie – 3/3/24
• Leschi – 2/25/24
• Emma Page – 2/18/24
• Abbie Howard Hunt Stuart – 2/11/24
• Earl Bean – 2/4/24
• Josephine Corliss Preston – 1/28/24
• Japanese workers at JJ Brenner – 1/21/24
• Sun Wo – 1/14/24
• Ira Ward – 12/30/23
• Pumping Station – 12/24/23
• Ed Henderson – 12/17/23
• Frederick Xenophon Jacob Miller – 12/10/23
• David Shelton – 12/3/23
• Thomas Huntamer – 11/26/23
• Charles Mason – 11/19/23
• Cain family – 11/12/23
• The Trosper Family – 11/5/23
• William McLane – 10/29/23
• Olympia Country and Golf Club – 10/22/23
• A.H. Chambers – 10/15/23
• Maybelle Tilley (Countess Stavra) – 10/8/23
• William Owen Bush – 10/1/23
• Michael T. Simmons – 9/24/23
• Clarence Martin – 9/17/23
• Lydia Hawk – 9/10/23
• Ruth Yauger – 9/3/23
• Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Ann Kennedy – 8/27/23
• Stephen Ruddell – 8/20/23
• Isaac Dofflemyer – 8/13/23
• Littlerock with Albert Rutledge – 8/6/23
• A.B. Woodard – 7/30/23
• Frank Howard – 7/23/23
• Governor Isaac Stevens – 7/16/23
• Samuel Woodruff – 7/9/23
• Milroy family – 7/2/23
• Lurana Ware Percival – 6/25/23
• Margaret Hazard Stevens – 6/18/23
• James Offutt – 6/11/23
• Urban Hicks – 6/4/23
• End of Oregon Trail – 5/28/23
• Colonel Speed Sapp – 5/21/23
• Thomas Budd – 5/14/23
• Margaret McKenny – 5/7/23
• O.C. Lacey – 4/30/23
• Talcott Brothers – 4/23/23
• Charlotte Emily Olney French – 4/16/23
• Ann Elizabeth White Bigelow – 4/9/23
• Charles Giles – 3/26/23
• Anson Henry – 4/2/23
• Langridge sisters – 3/19/23
• Iva Van Epps and Ruth Allison – 3/12/23
• Nathaniel Crosby – 3/5/23
• George Mottman – 2/26/23
• P.H. Carlyon – 2/19/23
• Samuel Coulter – 2/12/23
• Ike Ellis – 2/5/23
• Women’s Marathon Trials – 1/29/23
• Kinney family – 1/22/23
• Legion Way Trees – 1/15/23
• Albertina Schneider – 1/8/23
• Edmund Sylvester – 1/1/23
• Hazard Stevens Elk – 12/25/22
• Bernice Sapp – 12/18/22
• Livery Stable – 12/11/22
• Haskin and Peele – 12/4/22
• Columbia Hotel – 11/27/22
• Motorcycle Officer Koepke – 11/20/22
• Olympia Motorcycle Club – 11/13/22
• Nancy Smith and Mandana Smith Bush – 11/6/22
• Sons of Veterans – 10/30/22
• Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Kennedy – 10/23/22
• Old State Capitol Annex – 10/16/22
• Hop pickers – 10/9/2022
• Union Block – 10/2/22
• Francis Henry – 9/25/22
• Philemon Van Trump – 9/18/22
• The Prices with their automobiles 9-11-22
• Olympia Knitting Mills – 9/4/22
• Queen Ruth with her court – 8/28/22
• Olympia from the West Side – 8/21/22
• Central School – 8/14/22
• T.C. Van Epps Land Office – 8/7/22
• Oyster Harvesting – 7/31/22
• Logging in transition – 7/24/22
• Bilger and Going – 7/17/22
• Jacob, Earl, and Mollie Bean – 7/10/22
• Independence Day Canoe Race – 7/3/22
• Thurston County Courthouse – 6/26/22
• Henry Sanford Bush – 6/19/22
• Paving Downtown – 6/12/22
• Mary Olney Brown – 6/5/22
• Clark Savidge – 5/29/22
• Bettman Block – 5/15/22
• Jeffers returning from hunt – 5/1/22
• Morning Olympian – 5/8/22
• Jeffers returning from hunt – 5/1/22
• Kanaka Jack and Kiki – 4/24/22
• James Tilton Pickett – 4/17/22
• Tumwater School – 4/10/22
• Charles Burmeister – 4/3/22
• Peterfield Turpin 3/27/22
• Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias – 3/20/22
• Elizabeth Ayer – 3/13/22
• Toone James family – 3/6/22
• Children of Joseph Conner – 2/20/22
• Bordeaux Donkey Engine – 2/13/22
• Dog Show at the Armory – 2/6/22
• Washington Standard – 1/30/22
• 1/23/22 – Clara White Dunbar
• 1-16-22 – James Madison Alden view of Main Street
• 1-9-22 – Chambers Butcher Shop
• 1-2-2022 – Inaugural Ball 1941
• 12/26/2021 – Sylvester Mansion
• 12/12/21 – Hazard Stevens
• 11/28/21 – Mary Ann Bigelow
• Dixy Lee Ray – 11/21/21
• Amanda Benek Smith – 11/14/21
• Belle Reeves – 11/7/21
• Thurston County Courthouse (Old State Capitol) – 10/31/21
• 10/24/21 – Marshville Bridge
• 10/10/21 – Farmer’s Market
• October 3, 2021 – Robert Chamberlain
• Margaret McKenny – 9/26/21
• Josephine Corliss Preston – 9/19/21
• Olympia Opera House – 9/12/2021
• Capitol Center building – 9/5/21
• Mother Joseph – 8/29/21
• Isaac Ellis – 8/22/21
• George Bush – 8/15/21
• Heritage Fountain – 8/8/21
• Joyce Simmons Cheeka – 8/1/21
• 5th Avenue dam construction – 7/24/21
• Hotel Olympian – 7/18/21
• S.S. Beaver – 7/11/21
• Bicycles – 7/4/21
• Bertha Eugley – 6/27/21
• Anna Conner Hartsuck – 6/20/21
• Clara Sylvester – 6/13/21
• Barbara O’Neill – 6/6/21
• Memorial Clinic – 5/23/21
• Security Building – 5/16/21
• Trolleys – 5/9/21
• First Congregational Church – 5/2/21
• Washington Center – 4/18/21
• Governor Hotel – 4/11/21
• Lower Main Street – 4/4/21
• 3/28/21 – Miller’s
• Washington Veneer – 3/21/21
• 3/14/21 – Sylvester Park with 7th Avenue “lid”
• 3/7/21 – Washington Standard
• 2/28/21 – Leschi
• 2/21/21 – Procession of the Species
• 2/14/21 – KGY
• 2/7/2021- Centennial Parade
• Little Hollywood – 1/31/21
• Sylvester Park – 1/25/2021
• Columbia Hall – 1/17/2021
• Konrad Schneider – 1/10/2021
• Charles Wilkes – 1/3/2021
• Admittance Day – 12/27/2020
• GP Tester – 12/20/2020
• Ron Dodge – 12/13/2020
• Ken Balsley – 12/6/2020
• Land Office – 11/29/2020
• Vote for Olympia poster – 11/22/2020
• Oxen team at Bordeaux – 11/15/2020
• Diamond Jubilee Cake – 11/8/2020
• Olympia High School football team of 1909 – 10/25/2020
• Hays children at Governor’s Mansion – 10/18/2020
• Donald Anthony White demonstration – 10/11/2020
• Franklin Roosevelt in Olympia – 10/4/2020
• Velodrome – 9/27/2020
• Olympia Cafe – 9/20/2020
• Olympia Brewing Company poster – 9/16/2020
• Sky River II – 9/6/2020
• Burmeister Saloon – 7/26/2020
• McClarty Orchestra – 8/23/2020
• Mary O’Neil – 8/16/2020
• George Adams – 8/30/2020
• Fourth Avenue Bridge – 8/9/2020
• Rutledge and Littlerock – 8/2/2020
• Elmer Plumb – 7/19/2020
• Capitol Lake swimming area – 7/12/2020
• 1908 Suffrage Float – 7/5/2020
• Wooden Pipes – 6/28/2020
• Fourth Avenue in 1860s – 6/21/2020
• Civil War veterans – 6/14/2020
• Ernest Cheeka – 6/7/2020
• The Importance of Being Earnest – 5/31/2020
• Whirl O’ The Town – 5/24/2020
• Minstrels – 5/17/2020
• Chimes of Normandy – 5/3/2020
• 4/12/2020 – Mann’s Seeds
• 4/5/2020 – Abbie Howard Hunt Stuart
• 3/29/2020 – Lurana Percival
• 3/15/2020 – Marlon Brando is arrested
• CC and Asenath Ann Kennedy Simmons – 3/8/2020
• Makah protestors – 3/1/2020
• Road Runners – 2/23/2020
• Olympia High School Band – 2/16/2020
• Port of Olympia – 2/2/2020
• Sherwood Press – 1/19/20
• Ted Burntrager – 1/12/20
• Jeannette Whitcher pays it forward – 1/5/20
• Rotunda castle – 12/29/19
• Washington Junior High Glee Club – 12/2/19
• Frost girls – 11/24/19
• Union Pacific Depot – 11/17/19
• Minnie Mossman Hill – 11/10/19
• New Voting Machine – 11/3/19
• Margaret McKenny autographs books for youngsters – 10/20/19
• John Grace – 9/29/19
• Loyal Women at Emma Page fountain – 9/22/19
• China Clipper – 9/15/19
• Washington State Teachers’ Association – 9/8/19
• Lincoln Crossing Guards – 9/1/19
• Pet Parade – 8/25/19
• Waiting for Taft – 8/19/19
• Null Set – 8/11/19
• Mary Olney Brown – 8/4/19
• Petroglyph – 7/28/19
• Henry Harris – 7/21/19
• July 4, 1889 – 7/7/19
• The Spotlighters – 7/14/19
• Emiline Himes – 6/30/19
• Crosby store – 6/16/19
• Anna Blom – 6/9/19
• Capt. Duncan Finch – 6/2/19
• Jury Selection – 5/26/19
• Katherine Musgrove milliner – 5/19/19
• Computer Disk – 5/12/19
• Mosquito Fleet Messenger – 5/5/19
• Chambers Cherry Tree – 4/28/19
• Capital City Forging Moves – 4/21/19
• 1949 Earthquake – 4/14/19
• Arbor Day at the State Capital Museum – 4/7/19
• Daffodil Princesses – 3/31/19
• 3/10/19 – Artesian Fountain
• Rossell Galbraith O’Brien – 3/17/19
• Harry McElroy – 3/3/19
• Central School with Jesse Mars 2/24/19
• Seamart – 2/17/19
• ZIP code introduced – 2/10/19
• 2/3/19 – Dedication of End of Oregon Trail Monument
• 1/27/19 – Grand Mound Oregon Trail dedication
• 1/20/19 – Fallout Shelter practice
• 1/13/19 – Legislative Page uniforms
• Benjamin Hartsuck – 1/6/19
• Andy Crow – 12/30/18
• SS Nisqually – 12/23/18
• Proffitt’s – 12/16/18
• Frederick J.X. Miller – 12/2/18
• View from the Westside – 11/19/18
• Jack Gimblet’s boxer – 11/4/18
• Sam McClellan – 10/21/18
• Roe sisters – 10/14/18
• James Spirlock – 10/7/18
• Sun Wo – 9/23/18
• Kenney family at Woodland Hotel
• Welcoming Pole at State Capital Museum – 9/9/18
• Port of Olympia in 1910 – 9/2/18
• Bulletin – 9/1/18
• St. Peter introduces television in rooms – 8/26/18
• Plaque dedication – 8/19/18
• 5th Avenue Dam Construction – 8/12/18
• August 1909 special session – 8/5/18
• Lower Capitol Way – 7/29/18
• Earl Bean in 1963 – 7/22/18
• View from Old State Capitol – 7/15/18
• Natalie Riggin – 7/8/18
• Trena Belsito Worthington with the Rosellinis – 6/17/18
• Fish at City Hall – 5/27/18
• Tumwater Long Bridge – 5/20/18
• Knights of Pythias Parade – 5/13/18
• 1965 Earthquake – 4/29/18
• Olympia Voc Tech – 4/22/18
• Millersylvania CCC – 4/15/18
• John Montgomery – 4/8/18
• Anna and Maggie – 3/25/18
• Peace Pilgrim – 3/18/18
• St. Peter Hospital – Sherman St
• St. Peter Hospital – 3/4/18
• Star Laundry – 2/25/18
• Dr. Lucie Cook
• Roger Easton pen pal – 2/11/18
• Olympia Opera House – 2/4/18
• Street vendor – 1/28/18
• Ray Theater – 1/21/18
• District heating stack dismantled in 1966
• City Hall in 1966
• Olympia Veneer in 1946
• “Cheery” Street in December 1962
• Pool Hall and Taylor Music in 2014
• Montgomery Ward Building in 1938
• Abandoned Territorial Capitol in snow in 1911
• Methodist Church in 1890s
• Fourth Avenue in 1906
• Columbus Day Storm October 1962
• McElroy House
• B’nai Brith meeting in 1934
• Thelma Freitag in about 1925
• Olympia musicians in 1880s
• Civil Defense exercise in 1962
• M.M. Morris store in 1950
• Columbia Hall in 1902
• Knox Apartments in 1945
• Brown Farm at Nisqually 1913
• Greetings from the Westside by Edward Lange
• Olympia Hotel about 1890
• Legislative Building TP’ed in 1966
• Dick Nichols at KGY in 1964
• Anti-Saloon League Boat Club
• McAllister sisters moving in 1966
• Liberty Theater in 1941
• Ernie Taylor Music Store
• Teddy Roosevelt visits Sylvester Park in 1903
• J.E. Kelley Hardware Store in 1914
• Street “typo” 1962
• Linda in miniskirt in 1962
• Pacific House in 1902
• Rockway Leland Building in about 1941
• Gift of Capitol Lake in 1962
• Memorial Clinic in 1950
• Frank Guslander mill on Black Lake
• Bear cub eludes capture 1962
• St. Michael School groundbreaking in 1950
• Olympia streetcar in 1920s
• Masonic Temple in 1902
• Columbia Hall Police in 1905
• Old Territorial Capitol in 1911
• Spar Ticker in 1962
• Percival Children in about 1865
• Olympia High School domestic science class at Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909
• Archives Building under construction in 1962
• Olympia Knitting Mills swimsuit around 1935
• Palm Grove miniature golf in 1931
• Woodbury Doane
• Talcott Brothers
• Olympia Air Transport in 1941
• Dick Gregory trial in 1966
• Thanksgiving Football in 1929
• Civil Defense in 1961
• State Capital Museum (Lord Mansion) in 1953
• Tumwater tracks around 1910
• Samuel Woodruff
• Tilley Stable
• Olympus Dairy in1951
• Lacey South Sound Center opening in 1966
• Parade for “the Canal” in 1933
• Olympia Vocational Technical Institute in 1962
• “Three Little Maids” – 9/18/16
• JJ Brenner Barge about 1935
• The Newfangled Twist in 1962
• Unfortunate humpback whale in 1930
• Olympia Canning
• ME George Grocery in 1930
• Reed Building in 1930
• Security Building around 1926
• Capitol Chevrolet in 1941
• Sears Opening in Lacey in 1966
• Tenino Fourth of July in about 1913
• Last Day of Nisqually School in 1962
• North Coast bus station in 1937
• Pacific Tel building
• Plywood factory 1940s
• Fishing arrests in 1962
• Olympia Brewing Company bottle-cap workers
• Odd Fellows building in about 1889
• Little Hollywood Float House in 1940s
• Centennial Parade in 1950
• Livingston baby #12 in 1962
• Kneeland Hotel demolition and outdoor barbershop in 1949
• Percival Mansion terrace
• Olympia Transit
• William Frank, Sr.
• Sylvester Park in early 1950s
• Union Pacific Train Wreck
• Hunger March
• USO Club
• Bordeaux
• Fifth Avenue Dam and Bridge Construction
• Amanda Benek Smith
• Lewis and Clark Trading Post
• American Legion Band at Winged Victory
• Banned Book display – 1/17/16
• St. Peter Hospital on Sherman Street
• Deschutes Estuary in 1949
• Robert Wadlow at GallenKamp’s
• Christmas Island
• St. John’s Sunday School
• 4th Avenue December 1954
• Doane’s Oyster House
• Deane Apartments
• Daily Olympian building
• Don Rich
• Olympia Collegiate Institute
• Olympia High School band
• Carnegie Library
• Barker Motors
• Foursquare Church
• Paul Wiseman with Mountaineers
• Fallout shelter
• Lindbergh over Capitol
• Capitol Theater
• Tenino quarry
• Capitol Way and Legion
• 9th Avenue
• Be-Slim Display
• Miller’s Department Store
• Lakefair celebrates Diamond Jubilee in 1964
• Cadillac Dealership in 1914
• Grimm Brickyard
• Denn Powder Explosion
• Fish ladder at Tumwater Falls
• Bergstrom and Lassen
• Bettman Store
• Forest Memorial Gardens
• Percival Mansion
• Littlerock School
• VE Day
• Alice Padilla Salon
• Bayview Hotel
• Youth in Government 1957
• Chambers Black Heart Cherry Tree
• Gowey House
• Capitol Way Bricking
• Governor Hotel Dining Room
• William Owen Bush Farm
• Miles Sporting Goods
• “1063 Building”
• Springer and White Mill
• Safeway Store on Fourth Avenue
• Construction of I-5
• Greenwood’s Ark
• Legislative Building after 1949 earthquake
• Goldberg’s Building
• 5th Avenue Dam Construction
• Block’s Shoe Store
• J.C. Penney store
• Olympia Cornet Band
• Amateur theatricals
• Oyster Bay
• Hotel Olympian
• Olympia Federal Savings
• Japanese at Labor Temple
• John Percival in 1940
• Harris Dry Goods
• Olympia Light and Power
• Miniature Golf
• Mann’s Seeds
• Ralph’s Thriftway
• Capitol Lake swimming area
• Avalon Theater
• Olympia Oyster Company
• Ruth Stubbs at Allison Springs
• Armory Building
• Fifth Avenue in 1942
• Fourth Avenue looking west
• Anderson Apartments
• Acme Fuel Company at Capitol Campus
• Beer Cans at Broyles Market
• Wildwood Shopping Center
• St. John’s Episcopal Church
• Fire at National Wood Pipe in 1909
• Elks Club Caravan in 1933
• Funeral Procession for Unclaimed Dead in 1900
• Centennial Parade in 1950
• St. Martin’s College
• Chambers Block in 1891
• Olympia High School
• Mosquito Fleet at Percival Landing
• Old State Capitol Building after 1949 Earthquake
• Flame Princesses