Anderson, Olof House

Location: 410 Sherman St NW Local register; Diversity: Scandinavians Olof Anderson House, 1953, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Olof Anderson House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross This large colonial revival house was built in 1935 by Olof Anderson, the youngest of the Anderson brothers who emigrated from Sweden and founded Tumwater Lumber Mills (TLM). TLM…

Baretich Building/Site of Olympia Cafe

Location: 116 4th Ave E National Downtown Historic District, Local register, Wohleb Olympia Cafe, 1914, photo by Robert Esterly, courtesy of Washington State Historical Society Baretich building today (2012), photo by Deb Ross Since Olympia’s beginnings, there have been small but popular commercial establishments along Fourth Avenue, including numerous cafes and bars. The Olympia Cafe…

Centennial Park/Daniel Evans Tree/Rossell O’Brien House site

Location: 201 Union Ave SE Heritage Tree   O’Brien home in the background, 1949, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Centennial Park today (2014), photo by Deb Ross Rossell O’Brien, an Irish immigrant, fought in the Civil War, and arrived in Olympia in 1870, appointed as revenue collector under Governor Salomon. He married Fanny Steele, daughter of…

Christian Science Church/Temple Beth Hatfiloh/site of Rosenthal Home

Location: 201 8th Ave SE Religious institutions; Diversity: Jewish heritage Christian Science church, 1961, courtesy Washington State Historical Society Temple Beth Hatfiloh (Christian Science building) today (2014), photo by Deb Ross A group of Christian Science students began to meet in Olympia early in the 20th century. According to historian Bernice Sapp, they met in the…

Cunningham House

Location: 311 19th St SE Local register; South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood Cunningham House, 1941, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Cunninghan House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Cunningham House is an unusual and beautifully preserved example of an Art Moderne style home in the South Capitol neighborhood. G.B. Reishus was the architect for the home, which…

Dawley, L.E. House

Location: 119 22nd Ave SW Local register; South Capitol National Historic District L.E. Dawley House, 1956, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives L.E. Dawley House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross This beautifully maintained Spanish Colonial home was built in about 1929 by Leo E. Dawley, one of the two Dawley Brothers contractors who were responsible for many…

Deane Apartments

Location: 515 Adams St SE Deane Apartments, 1964, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Deane Apartments today (2014), photo by Deb Ross This handsome Mission-style apartment building was erected in 1935, and has changed very little since then. It is known for the palm trees that complement the tropical appearance of the building. Additional resources: Olympia Heritage inventory Looking…

Farquhar Store-Legislative Building, Lobby, Armory

Location: 7th Avenue and Adams St Farquhar Store, Jeffers Photograph of earlier drawing of unknown date, Susan Parish Photograph Collection, 1889-1990, Washington State Archives  Farquhar site today (2014), photo by Deb Ross Alexander Farquhar immigrated from Scotland and settled in Olympia in 1858. He worked for several years for Charles Williams at the Olympia Hardware Store, then…

First Christian Church

Location: 701 Franklin St SE Religious institutions; Wohleb; Local register First Christian around 1897, from Lawson, 100 Years of Christian Witness. First Christian Church today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Disciples of Christ (also known as Christian) denomination arrived in Thurston County in the very earliest years of American settlement, when the Longmire family founded a…

First United Methodist Church-Legion Way/Henry tree

Location: 1224 Legion Way SE mid-Century modern; Religious institutions; Landmark Tree First United Methodist Church around 1952, photo from First United Methodist website First United Methodist Church today (2013) photograph by Deb Ross The church building located at the corner of Boundary Street and Legion Way is the third purpose-built location of the First United…

Fleming House

Location: 1717 Jefferson St SE Local register; South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood Fleming House, 1942, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Fleming House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Fleming House was built about 1941 for John Gragg, a member of the Olympia Veneer cooperative. It was bought shortly after by the Fleming family, who owned Fleming-Harvey Motors…

Free Methodist Church

Location: 1431 Legion Way SE Local register; Religious institutions Free Methodist church, 1961, courtesy Washington State Historical Society Free Methodist Church building today (2013) photograph by Deb Ross The Free Methodist Christian denomination was founded in the 1860s as an offshoot of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The denomination is considered more conservative and evangelical than…

Gottfeld’s

Location: 213 4th Ave E Downtown National Historic District, Wohleb, Transportation 4th Avenue looking east, mid 1940s, with Gottfeld’s halfway down on right,  Private Postcard Collection Gottfeld’s Building today (2012) photograph by Matt Kennelly The Gottfeld Building was erected in 1908 by local businessmen Millard Lemon and Henry Mallory (see also Mallory House). In later…

Hamley House

Location: 3008 Lorne St SE Local register Hamley House, 1941, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Hamley House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Hamley House was built in 1940 for Frederick Hamley, a lawyer, public official, and judge. While most of his professional career was in Seattle and later on in San Francisco as…

Jacaranda (Genoa’s) Restaurant (demolished)

Location: 1675 Marine Drive NE mid-Century modern   Jacaranda Restaurant about 1983, City of Olympia Planning Department, Washington State Archives   Anthony’s Hearthfire today (2020), courtesy Anthony’s For the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, the Douglas Fir Plywood Association created a model home called the Century 21 Plywood Home of Living Light. After the fair was…

Jeffers Building

Location: 500 Washington St SE Local, State and National Registers, Downtown National Historic District, Wohleb Jeffers Building around 1914, photograph by Joe Jeffers, courtesy of Washington State Historical Society Jeffers Building today (2012), photo by Matt Kennelly The Jeffers Building, erected in 1913 on the corner of Washington and Fifth Avenue, is one of the first,…

Jeffers, Hugh House

Location: 218 19th St SW South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood Hugh Jeffers House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Hugh Jeffers House today (2015), photo by Deb Ross The Hugh Jeffers House is one of many in this neighborhood using the Tumwater Lumber Mills precut designs. It is in one of their pleasingly symmetrical Dutch Colonial styles, built in…

Jeffers, Joseph House

Location: 2109 East Bay Drive NE Local register?, Wohleb Joseph Jeffers House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Joseph Jeffers House today (2015), photo by Deb Ross Joseph Jeffers arrived in Olympia as an infant and took an interest in photography from a very early age. He established his own studio in 1904, and hired preeminent architect Joseph Wohleb to…

Kelly House

Location: 430 Percival St NW Local register Kelly House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Kelly House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Kelly House is one of several homes on Percival and nearby streets in the northwest neighborhood  that were built about the same time by Tumwater Lumber Mills (TLM). TLM was founded by the Andersen brothers…

KGY Building

Location: 1700 Marine Drive NE mid-Century modern; Wohleb; nominated for Local  Register (2022) KGY Building, 1960s, KGY Archives KGY Building today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The KGY Building is one of the city’s most distinctive mid-Century modern buildings. The radio station is one of the oldest in the United States, licensed in 1916. It was originally run…

Lassen House

Location: 424 Rogers St NW local register, Rogers Street Historic District Lassen House, 1937, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Lassen House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Lassen House is one of five homes on Rogers Street Northwest that were built about the same time by Tumwater Lumber Mills (TLM). TLM was founded by the…

Lucas House

Location: 420 Carlyon St SE Local register Lucas House, 1953, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Lucas House today (2018), photo by City of Olympia This home in the Carlyon neighborhood is a well-preserved example of a Tudor Revival cottage, common to the area. The home was built in 1926; it is well maintained and on the…

Marathon Park

Location: Deschutes Parkway Women’s History Start of first women’s marathon trials, near Marathon Park, 1984, courtesy The Olympian Marathon Park today (2014), photo by Deb Ross Marathon Park, first created in 1970 out of fill that extended the park into Capitol Lake, was renamed in 1984 to commemorate an historic event. In 1981, the International Olympia Committee…

Medical Arts Building

Location:  1015 4th Ave SW mid-Century modern Perspective of Medical Arts Building, about 1962, Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation Medical Arts Building today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Medical Arts Building was commissioned in 1962 by doctors E.V. Olson and William Bigelow. It was completed in 1966. The building was adjacent to St. Peter’s Hospital on…

Metropolitan Life Insurance Building

Location:  1006 4th Ave NE mid-Century modern Metropolitan Life Insurance Building 1960s, Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation files   Metropolitan Life Insurance Building (Crain’s Office Supply) today (2014), photo by Deb Ross This small Miesian style building was designed in 1958 by architect Kenneth Ripley and served as the Olympia office of Metropolitan Life until…

Moore House

Location: 3811 Pifer Rd SE Local register; Women’s History Moore House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Moore House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross John and Olivia Moore built this unusual stucco bungalow in 1927. At the time, the location on Pifer Road was far in the outskirts of Olympia, past the Cloverfield farm. John…

New Caldonia building

Location: 116 5th Avenue Downtown National Historic District Proffitt’s Department Store, 1970, Susan Parish Collection, Washington State Archives New Caldonia building today (2017) photograph by Deb Ross According to its owner, the building now called the New Caldonia building was the site of the Caledonia Hotel in the 1870s. By 1914 it was the home…

Munson House

Location: 2112 Capitol Way S Local register; South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood Munson House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Munson House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Munson House was built in 1924 by the Munson family. Fred G. Munson was a member of a prominent Olympia pioneer family (see Munson store). He owned a drug…

Paine House

Location: 428 Rogers St NW local register, Rogers Street Historic District Paine House, 1937, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Paine House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Paine House is one of five homes on Rogers Street Northwest that were built about the same time by Tumwater Lumber Mills (TLM). TLM was founded by the…

Potts House

Location: 418 Rogers St NW local register, Rogers Street Historic District Potts House, 1937, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Potts House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Potts House is one of five homes on Rogers Street Northwest that were built about the same time by Tumwater Lumber Mills (TLM). TLM was founded by the…

Preston, Josephine Corliss House

Location: 1502 Columbia St SW South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood; Women’s History Preston House, 1937, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Preston House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Josephine Corliss Preston House was erected in 1907, a well-preserved Craftsman style house in the South Capitol Neighborhood, very close to Capitol Campus. The house is associated with Josephine…

Rabeck Building

Location: 311 4th Ave E Local register; Popular culture Rabeck Music Store (in next block to the east), Piano Trade Magazine, 1915 Rabeck Music Store building today (2014), photo by Deb Ross Ammon T. Rabeck arrived in Olympia in 1888, and after working in the mills for several years, opened up a small organ store at the…

Ralph’s Thriftway

Location: 1908 4th Ave E mid-Century modern Ralph’s Thriftway, 1958, Susan Parish Collection, Southwest Regional Archives Ralph’s Thriftway today (2014), photo by Deb Ross Ralph’s Thriftway opened at its present location between Fourth  and State Avenues in 1956. It was a showcase for the very latest in grocery stores. It was also one of the largest stores…

Raymond House

Location: 1130 East Bay Drive NE Raymond House, 1939, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Raymond House today (2015) photograph by Deb Ross Perched on a bluff overlooking Budd Inlet, the Raymond House was built in 1922 by George Raymond, a contractor, to serve as his own residence. The stucco facade of this bungalow is relatively unusual for…

Ray Theatre/Timberland Bank

Location: 423 Washington St SE Downtown National Historic District, Popular Culture Ray Theatre, 1914,  Robert Esterly photo courtesy of Washington State Historical Society Timberland Bank building today (2012) photograph from Timberland Bank website In about 1914, the Zabel family, who owned several theaters downtown, built the Ray Theatre here, pictured at above left, at the corner…

Mustard House

Location: 1617 Capitol Way S South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood; Women’s History Mustard House, 1936, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Mustard House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Mustard House on Capitol Way in the South Capitol National Historic Neighborhood is one of the most prominent homes in the neighborhood. Designed in the Queen Anne style, it…

Sears Building/Site of First Presbyterian Church and Manse- Franklin St.

Location: 600 Franklin St SE Religious communities; Downtown National Historic District;  mid-Century modern First Presbyterian Church and manse, Franklin Street around 1891, Olympia Tribune Souvenir Edition, Washington State Library Sears Building in 2003,  photograph by Ed Echtle (2003) The First Presbyterian Church was the first church in Olympia, and the first Presbyterian church north of…

State Theater/Site of Thurston County Courthouse, 4th Avenue/Burmeister saloon and residence

Location: 202 4th Ave E National Downtown Historic District; Wohleb; Popular culture;  mid-Century modern Thurston County Courthouse-4th Avenue, 1905, postcard private collection State Theatre today (2003), photo by Ed Echtle The northeast corner of Fourth and Washington was once occupied by a wooden structure built in about 1853, at a time when the center of…

United Churches of Olympia

Location: 110 Eleventh Ave SE Religious institutions United Churches of Olympia, around 1960, United Churches of Olympia collection United Churches of Olympia today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The United Churches of Olympia is a federated congregation  of the First Congregational Church of Olympia and the First Presbyterian Church of Olympia. Both of these institutions are…

Ward, Samuel House

Location: 137 Sherman St NW Local register, Women’s history Samuel Ward House, 1970, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Samuel Ward House today (2009), photo by Deb Ross The Samuel Ward House was built by a member of the pioneer Ward family, who owned a lumber mill on the Deschutes River in Tumwater. The home was built…

Ward-Levenhagen House

Location: 432 Rogers St NW local register, Rogers Street Historic District Ward Levenhagen House, 1937, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Ward Levenhagen House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Ward Levenhagen House is one of five homes on Rogers Street Northwest that were built about the same time by Tumwater Lumber Mills (TLM). TLM was…

Warmoth House

Location: 1801 4th Ave E Warmoth House, 1966, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Warmoth House today (2015), photo by Deb Ross The Warmoth House was erected by George Warmoth, a railroad freight operator, in 1910. It is built in an interesting and unique combination of Prairie and Craftsman styles, earning it a place in Olympia’s inventory. It…

Warnica and Warnica

Location: 202 9th Ave SW Warnica and Warnica Building, 1966, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Warnica and Warnica Building today (2015), photo by Deb Ross This building was erected as a mortuary by A.O. Warnica and his son Earl, in 1923. The Warnicas arrived here in 1905. Except for the enclosing in of the diagonal porch…

Wildwood building

Location: 2822 Capitol Way SE mid-Century modern, Wohleb, Transportation Wildwood Building, 1950, advertisement in Olympia Centennial Souvenir program,  Southwest Regional Archives Wildwood Building today (2013) photo by Deb Ross The Wildwood Building (also known as the G.C. Valley Shopping Center) was the first shopping center built in Olympia, in 1938. The building was designed for…

Wiman/Jackson House

Location: 313 Quince St SE Local register   We have not located a vintage photograph of this home.If you have one to share, please contact us. Wiman/Jackson House today (2014) photo by Deb Ross The Wiman/Jackson House was built before 1887 in what is now known as the Bigelow neighborhood on Olympia’s east side. (Thurston County assessor…

Winters House

Location: 436 Rogers St NW local register, Rogers Street Historic District Winters House, 1937, Thurston County Assessor, Southwest Regional Archives Winters House today (2014), photo by Deb Ross The Winters House is one of five homes on Rogers Street Northwest that were built about the same time by Tumwater Lumber Mills (TLM). TLM was founded by the…

Wright Building

Location: 222 4th Ave W National Downtown Historic District Parrott and Harter, Wright Building, 1914, photo by Robert Esterly, courtesy of Washington State Historical Society   Wright building today (2012), photo by Deb Ross The Wright Building at the corner of Water Street and Fourth Avenue was constructed in 1908 and was one of the…