Location: 1501 Capitol Way S
![]() Clarence Bethel Grocery, 1914, Robert Esterly photo, Courtesy of Washington State Historical Society |
![]() location today (2012), photo by Deborah Ross |
In 1914, Tumwater resident and photographer Robert Esterly took photographs of many of the businesses in Olympia. They provide a snapshot of a city in transition, when most citizens were able to shop for their groceries either at nearby stores or have them delivered. The Clarence Bethel Grocery was located here, adjacent to what is now Capitol Campus, and still existed in the late 1930s after the campus was developed. Eventually, though, it succumbed to the development of one of the many office buildings that house organizations and lobbyists doing business in the capital.
More information:
Washington State Historical Society photographs, enter the following catalog number in collection search box: 2010.149.3.1 (above photograph); C1964.26.4.1.6 (unscanned photo circa 1939)
For more information on Clarence Bethel, see the Residents section of this website
Copyright © 2022 Deborah Ross