“Sylvester’s Window” is a nonprofit, educational project that teaches local history through a series of eight cityscapes created by artist Robert Chamberlain, all drawn from the same perspective: the tower window of Edmund Sylvester’s home in Downtown Olympia, Washington. By arrangement with the creator of the project, Lynn Erickson, the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum has posted the eight cityscapes as well as extensive educational materials and research on our website. All text has been scanned and searchable using optical character resolution (OCR) software. Originals are displayed at the Olympia branch of Timberland Library. Please respect copyrights; for permission to use any and all materials from this project, contact us at olyhistory@gmail.com. Click on the links below to be taken to each cityscape and its associated materials.
Introduction
1841 – Cheetwoot
1856 – The Indian War
1874 – Building a Railroad
1899 – The Century’s Last Fourth of July
1933 – The Hunger March
1950 – Grand Parade of Progress
1972 – The Big Snow
2001 – Arts Walk