Location: 166 Washington St NE
Knox Hotel and Apartments, 1914, photo by Robert Esterly, courtesy of Washington State Historical Society |
Location today (2012), photo by Deb Ross |
Another example of a downtown building razed to create a parking lot, this is the location of the former Knox Hotel and Apartments. An earlier building was erected at this site between 1891 and 1896 by John D. Knox. By 1900, Mr. Knox had died and his wife Clara took over management. This building was erected in the early 20th century. It lasted well into the twentieth century and was a convenient location to the core of downtown Olympia, including the courthouse next door. The 1910 US Census shows an interesting variety of residents, including teachers, actors, stenographers, and Ed Zabel, manager of the Zabel theater chain downtown.
Before the Knox Hotel was built, this was the location of the home of Dr. Uzal Warbass and family. A photograph of that home is linked below (note the cupola-ed Columbia Hall in the background)
Additional resources:
Washington State Historical Society photographs (enter the following catalog number into Collections Search box), 2010.149.32.1
Digital Archives photograph of Warbass home
For more information on the Knox and Warbass families, see the Residents section of this website.
Copyright © 2022 Deborah Ross