Looking Back’s theme for 2025 features Thurston County area photographers, artists, and their subjects. Robert Blankenship was a member of an early settler family. Along with his business partner Ed Winstanley, he operated a stationery and tobacco store in Olympia. The partnership also produced postcards featuring local scenes. Robert is pictured here with an unidentified friend and three bicycles. Photograph selected and captioned by Deborah Ross on behalf of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum, https://olympiahistory.org.
Unknown photographer, about 1911, courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society