In February 1938, Ann Nielsen’s Scottish father was aboard the Pacific Pioneer, a British cargo ship that arrived at the Port of Olympia, loading fresh fruit and lumber bound for Great Britain, which was already on the verge of World War II. The port would have looked vastly different than it does today. This aerial from that timeframe shows oil tanks, veneer plants, warehouses, and a row of ships pulled up along Percival Dock.
Leonard Delano photo, 1946, courtesy Washington State Historical Society, catalog 2016.0.117
Image © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2020