Organization

Olympia City Council

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Apr 27, 1884The Saloon Question in OlympiaOlympia's City Council moves to curb the prevalence of saloons through steep fee hikes, a move that the P-I suggests Seattle should replicate.Olympia, WA
Oct 10, 1891The Streetcar Builder Who Refused to Buy His Own Right of WayJ. R. Chaplin tells Olympia's council that asking his Westside Railway to purchase Block 48 would insult the enterprise promising the city its first mile of track.Olympia, WA
Oct 16, 1891Olympia’s ‘Miserable’ Street Railway Is Holding the City BackAn 1891 editorial demands that the city cancel the Olympia Street Railway’s charter and clear Main and Fourth streets for electric cars, arguing the two rickety horse cars are a disgrace and a drag on growth.Olympia, WA
Oct 16, 1891A Street Fight Over Page Street’s GulchContractor I. Liberman prepared to bill Olympia about $100 a day after the city suspended work on an Eastside street improvement.Olympia, WA
Oct 20, 1891The Ten-Foot Map That Would Sewer OlympiaIn 1891, an engineer drew a room-sized map and planned a drainage system for a city of 20,000—if the council could get around the Seventh Street tunnel.Olympia, WA
Oct 21, 1891The Sewer Plan That Imagined a City of 200,000Engineer J. S. Camp presented Olympia’s council with a tide-powered reservoir and automatic flush tanks, a system meant to grow with the capital city.Olympia, WA
Oct 23, 1891The Boss and the Franklin Street FixOlympia’s public-works fight spills into council: a contractor says the job is done, Boss Sickles says otherwise, and the city engineer is caught in the middle.Franklin Street, Olympia, WA
Oct 23, 1891A $1,500 Sewer Plan, and a Demand for an AffidavitOlympia's council weighs buying a complete sewerage scheme for the city — but not before the engineer swears his figures are honest.Olympia, WA
Oct 23, 1891Main Street Refuses to Be PavedProperty owners between Fifth and Sixth beat back a macadam upgrade, a councilman berates them for it, and the street gets planks instead.Olympia, WA
Nov 11, 1891City Attorney Blocks Olympia’s Columbia Street AssessmentA legal opinion found that street grading and planking done without contracts could not be charged to abutting owners beyond $500—putting more than $2,000 in assessments in doubt.Olympia, WA
Nov 17, 1891Half-Finished Streets and a Man-Trap on Main: The Tribune Takes the City to TaskOn the morning of a council meeting, Olympia's paper catalogues the abandoned plank road, the blocked gutters, the depot sidewalk rotting for two weeks, and a hole in Main Street waiting to cost the city money.Olympia, WA
Nov 18, 1891Olympia's Election Scramble: A Mayor Bows Out, a Boss Bides His TimeWith municipal elections set for December, Mayor Horr declines a second term while Councilman Sickels and other local figures jockey for influence—and talk of a west-side ward and Tumwater consolidation simmers.Olympia City Hall, Olympia, WA
Nov 18, 1891A City on the Brink: Olympia’s 1891 Debt Crisis and the Fight Over JobsFacing a constitutional debt limit, Olympia’s city council considers firing the deputy clerk, assistant city attorney, and city engineer—while a motion to revoke the street railway franchise fails by a tie.Olympia, WA
Nov 18, 1891City Hall Takes On the Awnings of Main StreetOlympia's city attorney confirms the council has the power to remove awnings and posts from private property along Main Street, clearing the way for a downtown cleanup.Main Street, Olympia, WA
Nov 18, 1891The Bond Election That Wasn't LegalOlympia's council pushed the city into debt and ordered a vote before checking whether it had the authority to do so — then spent public money to learn it hadn't. The Tribune, having warned them, savours the mess.Olympia, WA
Nov 30, 1891Olympia Bought a $1,500 Sewer Map Critics Called WorthlessA letter to the editor accuses the city council of buying a stranger's sewer plan without scrutiny—complete with a harbor reservoir already condemned in San Diego.Olympia, WA
Dec 2, 1891Olympia Puts Its Bond Mess on Ice—and the Mayor ObjectsA council committee recommends leaving the 1891 bond tangle to the next administration; the mayor warns the city is “in a mud hole” and wants the courts to force a decision.Olympia, WA
Dec 3, 1891Olympia's Streetcar Franchise Shell GameA franchise extension granted on a promise of negotiations turns out to be empty—and the editor wants electric cars for the capital.Olympia, WA
Dec 10, 1891Free Mail Delivery Is Coming to Olympia—If the City Numbers Its HousesPostmaster V. A. Milroy says carriers, boxes and three new routes will be ready by New Year’s Day, but two-thirds of the city’s houses still lack numbers and property owners must pay to add them.Olympia, WA
Dec 10, 1891Resign Now: The Tribune's Plan to Get Olympia Out of Debt Thirty Days SoonerWith the city paying $1,500 a month — $50 a day — in interest on its outstanding warrants, the editor demands that the outgoing mayor and three councilmen step down early so the incoming council can start refinancing immediately instead of waiting for January 12, 1892.Olympia, WA
Dec 15, 1891A Mayor Willing to Resign Over a Ballot TechnicalityWhen Olympia’s election tickets were printed under the wrong law, Mayor Horr offered to step down rather than hold office on a legal loophole—and urged the council to appoint the people’s chosen successors.Olympia, WA
Dec 15, 1891The Engineer Who Says Olympia Stiffed Him for Sewer PlansA civil engineer hired to draft Olympia’s sewers says the city accepted his $700 bid, starved him of data, then canceled his contract and paid another man $1,500 for plans he calls a public nuisance.Olympia, WA
Dec 15, 1891Olympia’s Firefighters Needed Rubber Suits, Beds—and a PaycheckAn editorial urges the city to equip, house and compensate its firemen, noting that volunteers had spent their own money and lost clothing fighting the steamer Eastern Oregon fire.Olympia, WA
Dec 16, 1891Olympia’s Mayor Resigns to Save a Disputed ElectionAfter a contested municipal election, Mayor Horr says he will step down on January 5 so successors can be appointed—and asks the outgoing councilmen to do the same.Olympia, WA
Jan 5, 1892The Eighteenth Promise of Mr. SavageOlympia's street railway president vows a coal-oil motor, fifteen-minute service, and an Eastside extension—mostly, the paper suspects, for real estate.Olympia, WA
Jan 6, 1892John L. Sullivan Comes to Olympia, and the City Council Adjourns for the ShowThe heavyweight champion and the Pacific Coast’s great theatrical manager packed the Olympia Theater, traded jokes about brick opera houses, and drew the mayor and nearly every councilman into the audience.Olympia Theater, Olympia, WA
Jan 8, 1892The Mayor's Chair Is No Bed of RosesOlympia's old city officers resign to clear a ballot-printing challenge, the new mayor takes the oath—and both incoming and outgoing officials warn that public service brings more abuse than thanks.Olympia, WA
Jan 9, 1892Thirty Men Want One City Job as Olympia’s New Council Takes OverA patronage scramble greets Olympia’s incoming administration, with a crowd of applicants for street commissioner and a proposal to cut the police force while adding more streetlights.Olympia, WA
Mar 4, 1892Olympia's Electric Road Begins With a Land DriveThe Olympia Electric Light Power Company wants land donations for a streetcar line, while engineers prepare to grade Main Street from 26th to 29th.Olympia, WA
Mar 11, 1892A Streetcar Franchise on the Line Over Naphtha PowerA citizen charges the Olympia street railway is violating its charter with an unsafe naphtha motor and neglected trackwork at Fifth and Main.Olympia, WA
Apr 1, 1892Who Pays for the Streets That Boost Land Values?A taxpayer objects as Olympia considers borrowing from the general fund to cover private street-grading debts in distant additions.Olympia, WA
Apr 15, 1892A Streetcar Cathedral Rises at Chestnut and FifthOlympia Light and Power plans a three-story headquarters with repair pits, a supply store and dormitory rooms for single employees — if City Council approves the route it wants.Olympia, WA
Apr 19, 1892The Fight to Keep Olympia's Public Works Money in OlympiaA local editor takes credit for shaming the city council into hiring home labor — and warns that out-of-town contractors are bleeding the capital dry.Olympia, WA
Apr 22, 1892Council Trims the Streetcar FranchiseOlympia’s aldermen refused the franchise on Union Street and Maple Park Avenue, barred local freight hauling, and demanded free use of the company’s poles for the city’s fire alarm.Olympia, WA
Jan 6, 1895Olympia Cut Salaries and School Terms to Survive the Panic of 1893Facing depression, Washington’s capital city slashed official pay, shortened the school year to six months, and bet on harbor work and a new capitol to pull itself out.Olympia, WA
Jan 11, 1895Olympia Turns Off the Streetlights to Save $500 a MonthFacing a budget squeeze, Olympia’s city council voted to darken the streets and save $500 a month. Public-spirited citizens organized a private subscription to keep the lights burning rather than let the city go totally dark.Olympia, WA