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.
As the tower of the new court house rises the entire building assumes a magnificent appearance. Just above the foremost arches is where the immense clock was to be placed, but the commissioners have decided to do without one for the present. The dials, which are eight feet in diameter, were made by Thomas Mattineg at Washington and Third streets. It is estimated that the clock will cost about $1,000, and much dissatisfaction is expressed to think that the clock will not be placed in position. It is designed to have eight faces. The tower when finished will be 149 feet from the ground.
“It is estimated that the clock will cost about $1,000, and much dissatisfaction is expressed to think that the clock will not be placed in position.”
The 1892 Thurston County courthouse became Washington's Old Capitol Building, still standing on Washington Street, a landmark at the center of Olympia. The skirmish over a $1,000 clock is an early version of the argument that still attends every public building: what the public is willing to pay for and what it will do without.
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