Looking Back’s theme for 2026 was Downtown by the Decades. In 1902, photographer A.D. Rogers took this photograph to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Olympia Lodge #1 of the Masons. The Masonic Temple, erected in 1855 just three years after the Lodge’s founding, was one of several important buildings flanking Main Street (Capitol Way).
Rogers photograph, 1902, courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C2018.0.96
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2026