Looking Back’s theme for 2026 was Downtown by the Decades. By the late 1890s, downtown Main Street (now Capitol Way) was largely commercial. In this image from 1898, we are looking north from Legion Way. Trolley tracks, electrified in 1892, run up and down the street. The Stuart Block is at right of the image, with the Odd Fellows Hall tower visible in the distance.
unidentified photographer, 1898, Courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1952.1068.1
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2026