Looking Back’s theme for 2026 is Downtown by the Decades. On September 15, 1967, an era came to an end with the closing of the iconic Mottman’s Mercantile department store, located at 4th and Capitol. Shown here, in a photo taken shortly before, is the ground floor of the store, looking down from the balcony where George Mottman presided until he was well into his 80s. The building still exists. Image selected and captioned by Deborah Ross on behalf of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum, https://olympiahistory.org.
Mottman Collection, Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum