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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 8 |
| 1892 | 7 |
15 stories matching design
- Olympia Selects Design for New High School
The school board settles on a design by architect B.F.M. Weeks, sparking a debate over whether to build in brick or Tenino stone.
- Olympia's grand new courthouse rises — without its clock
The tower climbs to 149 feet, but the commissioners have decided against the $1,000 clock, and townspeople are not pleased.
- Forty Young Olympians Become Company A — and Veto the 'Governor's Guard'
A new National Guard company musters at the capital, elects its officers, and then debates what to call itself — until one young soldier warns that a governor might someday misbehave.
- A Streetcar Cathedral Rises at Chestnut and Fifth
Olympia 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.
- The Boat Builder and the Missing Cornerstone
Courtland Ethridge arrived in Olympia in 1851, built some of its earliest landmarks, and left behind a Masonic hall with a mystery buried under it.
- The Brick Blocks That Told Olympia It Had Arrived
In 1891, three pressed-brick buildings rose along Olympia’s business streets—and boosters read them as proof the wooden capital was becoming a real city.
- He Was Not Going to the Asylum: How an Olympia Guardianship Case Was Settled
Peterfield Turpin’s family asked the court for a guardian. Rumors flew that he would be committed and his estate seized. In open court, the parties explained—and settled.
- The Courthouse Architect, the Commissioners, and a $458 Bill Nobody Wants to Pay
The man who designed Thurston County's new courthouse demands the rest of his fee; the commissioners say he broke his contract and has been paid enough.
- The Night Fourth Street Lit Up: Ellis's Furniture Warehouse Burns
A fire breaks out above a frame warehouse after ten o'clock, the east side of the city glows, and firemen haul chairs and mattresses into the street until the heat drives them back.
- The Governor's White Elephant and a Newspaper Deal
A proposed $2,500 purchase of the Daily Olympian sets off talk of a King County power play, a governor's relief, and a political machine in the making.
- The Sewer Plan That Imagined a City of 200,000
Engineer 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.
- Jailed for a Malicious Complaint, Freed by the State Supreme Court
A Pierce County jury found George Locke not guilty and decided his accuser, Leonard Permstick, had complained maliciously. The court ordered Permstick to pay $275.85 in costs or stay in jail—until the Washington Supreme Court ruled the commitment void.
- A City on the Brink: Olympia’s 1891 Debt Crisis and the Fight Over Jobs
Facing 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.
- The $275,000 Plan to Dredge Olympia Into a Deep-Water Port
In 1892, a federal engineer proposed cutting a 12-foot channel through two miles of tide flats so ocean steamers could reach Fourth Street. The price tag was $275,000—and a bet on Olympia’s future.
- Olympia Bought a $1,500 Sewer Map Critics Called Worthless
A 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.