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1. The Temperance Hall With a Deed That Wouldn't Let Go

   A judge voids a ruling on the Good Templars' Columbia Street property, reopening a fight over a free library, a moral clause, and which court had the power to decide.

   Oct 21, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyFollow the Money

2. The council met in secret to dig itself out of the hole it dug

   A closed-door caucus of Olympia's aldermen wrestles with the bond debt their own street work created — then adjourns for drinks, with the press locked out.

   Nov 14, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyBoom & Bust · City Hall

3. A Late-Night Arrival, a Smuggling Scare, and a Quiet Release

   Customs inspectors detained five Chinese passengers who came ashore from the steamer Gatzert, but a local merchant's word and a records check left them free to go.

   Nov 25, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyExclusion & Resistance

4. The Minister, the Miracle Cure, and Olympia's War on Drink

   Rev. Napoleon Hoagland preached "salvation by science" at Tacoma Hall, touting Dr. Keeley's famous remedy for alcoholism and urging Olympia to raise money so the poor could be treated too.

   Dec 7, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyNightlife · Snake Oil

5. The Keeley Cure Comes to Olympia

   Olympia's Keeley Institute promises release from drink, and the Tribune opens a discreet charity fund for patients who cannot pay.

   Dec 21, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyNightlife · Snake Oil

6. The Jail Was Out of Level

   Fred Neuffer was due in court for embezzlement. Instead, Olympia’s county jail became the scene of a strange one-man investigation into whether the floor itself was crooked.

   Mar 30, 1892The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyTrue Crime

7. Workingmen Open a People’s Forum—and Hear That Olympia Sits on a Volcano

   Two hundred residents packed Columbia Hall for the first of a series of public-question meetings, where speakers warned of hard times and one declared the city was on the edge of an eruption.

   Apr 16, 1892The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyWork & Pay · City Hall

8. The Streetcar Builder Who Refused to Buy His Own Right of Way

   J. 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.

   Oct 10, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

9. A Territorial Legislature Grants a Divorce

   In 1859, Alice Davis asked Washington's lawmakers—not a court—to end her marriage, and the House obliged by an 18-to-3 vote.

   Dec 16, 1859Puget Sound HeraldOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · Scandal

10. The Colonel, the Adjutant-General, and the Olympia Hotel Lobby

    A state militia court-martial adjourns without deciding whether Colonel Haines was a civilian or a soldier when he assaulted Adjutant-General O’Brien—prompting a newspaper suggestion that O’Brien wear a baseball mask.

    Nov 12, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia Hotel, Olympia, Thurston CountyScandal

11. The Bucket Brigade That Saved a Block

    Two brothers woke to smoke and falling embers in a Third Street lodging house, then doused the roof fire before the department could even join the fight.

    Dec 29, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyDisasters

12. Mossbackism in Olympia: The Club, the Hotel and the Saloon Men

    Board of Trade members proposed folding the Washington Club into the Olympia Hotel to settle liquor complaints and give the board a cash stake—then the club's defenders blamed saloon keepers and 'picayune politicians.'

    Nov 11, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · Nightlife

13. The Tear-Off Ballot Stub and the $25 Fine for Not Voting

    Two 1893 bills proposed a perforated anti-fraud ballot and compulsory voting with transient polling places, hoping to end vote buying in Washington.

    Mar 3, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

14. The Reporter in the Belfry: A School Scandal Ends in Resignation and a Rope Slide

    A closed-door investigation at Olympia's Collegiate Institute ended with a professor's resignation and two students dismissed—and a newspaperman who tried to eavesdrop from above.

    Apr 16, 1892The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyScandal

15. Seattle's School Money Sent to the Backwoods

    A King County Populist senator votes to hand $10,000 a year of Seattle's tax money to remote rural districts — and the Post-Intelligencer is not having it.

    Mar 12, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWashington State Capitol, Olympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

16. The Handmade Naphtha Car That Was Going to Revolutionize Olympia

    At a stable on Puget and Third, George Marvin Savage's crew is building a one-off motor car—part streetcar, part joke—for Main Street.

    Mar 2, 1892The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyBoom & Bust · Strange But True

17. The Furs That Arrived as Nineteen Old Magazines

    A Seattle shipper's $1,920 box of furs was rifled in transit and stuffed with back issues of Everybody's — and the state supreme court says the fine print on the freight receipt is all he gets.

    Apr 22, 1909The Newport Miner (Newport, WA) 1899-CurrentOlympia, Thurston CountyStrange But True

18. Defective Brick in the Courthouse? The Former Superintendent Says Yes

    Former superintendent W. A. Rogers says the county courthouse contains defective brick that can be crushed by hand, disputing the county attorney's claim that only the architecture is at fault.

    Mar 16, 1892The Olympia TribuneThurston County Courthouse, OlympiaCity Hall

19. 1914 Ballot: Noncitizen Residents and City Land Ownership

    Voters are asked to decide if resident aliens should be allowed to own land within municipal corporations.

    Jul 30, 1914The Kennewick Courier-ReporterOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · Exclusion & Resistance

20. Establishing Washington’s First Public School System

    A legislative act outlining the structure, funding, and local oversight for common schools across the Washington Territory.

    Jul 1, 1854Pioneer and DemocratOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

21. The Governor Died Two Days After Taking to His Room — and Never Said Goodbye

    Samuel G. Cosgrove, elected to lead Washington in November, died of Bright's disease at a California sanitarium. Olympia draped the capitol in crape, called out the National Guard, and swore in his lieutenant governor before the funeral was over.

    Apr 1, 1909The Newport Miner (Newport, WA) 1899-CurrentWashington State Capitol, Olympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

22. Political Patronage and the Janitor's Broom

    The state legislature navigated a delicate political situation by dismissing a Tacoma man's manual-publishing contract, only to pacify him with a janitorial appointment for his brother.

    Jan 22, 1909The Tacoma TimesWashington State Capitol, Olympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

23. The Territory's Legislative Snake

    A scathing critique from 1877 exposes the 'headless and tailless' chaos of newly minted Washington tax laws, exposing a system designed to strip residents of their property through administrative incompetence.

    Dec 29, 1877Puget Sound DispatchOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

24. Seattle Makes Its Case for Statehood

    As the constitutional convention convenes in Olympia, Seattle’s delegates argue for the city’s readiness, its infrastructure, and its claim to statehood.

    Jul 16, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

25. The Fight for Seattle’s Infrastructure Debt Limit

    A delegation from Seattle appeared before the Washington constitutional convention to lobby for the city's power to borrow money to pay for critical infrastructure, including public water and street improvements.

    Jul 17, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

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