Merle Junk photograph, Susan Parish Collection, Washington State Archives, 1960s
Champion Bramwell Mann, an early Olympia pioneer, held a variety of public offices, including territorial librarian, Thurston County Treasurer, and mayor. His most lasting legacy to local historians is a survey he sent out to other Thurston County pioneers and their descendants, asking questions about their family roots, how they arrived here, and their family members. Mann’s first profession was apothecary, or druggist, but by 1920 he had converted his family homesite on the corner of Fifth and Franklin into a seed store. Mann’s Seeds was still in existence into the 1970s. It is now the home of Rainy Day Records and Little General grocery store. Photograph selected and captioned by the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum. For more information see olympiahistory.org.