Publisher John Miller Murphy built the Olympia Opera House also known as the Olympia Theater, Fourth Avenue. As this photograph from 1890 shows, a trolley line ran by the theater, providing easy access to all classes of Olympia society. Over its 30 years of existence some of the biggest national names played here, including John Phillips Sousa, Mark Twain, and others, as well as numerous local performers.
unknown photographer, 1890, State Library Collection, Washington State Archives, image AR-07809001-ph000980
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2018