Throughout 2021 the Olympian’s Sunday Looking Back feature portrayed events and people from the Sylvester’s Window cityscape project. The 1899 cityscape shows one of Olympia’s five yellow trolleys proceeding southward on Main Street (now Capitol Way). The trolley system was electrified in 1892, with power supplied by the hydroelectric plant at Deschutes Falls. The system ran until 1933; a remnant exists in the form of a trolley pole at 11th and Capitol.
Undated photo, private collection
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2021