The Midnight Bells of Olympia
When two Northern Pacific agents arrived at midnight to announce the rail terminus, the town of Olympia erupted in a celebration that would define its future.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
On Sunday night, at 12 o'clock, the slumbers of our citizens were disturbed by the firing of cannon and the ringing of bells. Many supposed it was simply a welcoming salutation of the incoming Christmas, and, so thinking, turned over on their couches and resumed their broken dreams. At early dawn, on Christmas morning, the cause of the disturbance was explained. A glad and momentous event transpired precisely at 12 o'clock the previous night. Messrs. J. N. Goodwin and J. W. Sprague, Special Agents of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, chose that hour as the most appropriate in which to signify their intentions to extend the railroad to this place and terminate it on Budd’s Inlet. Before noon, posters bonded with a locomotive and train of cars circulated around town, containing the gratifying intelligence: 'To the Citizens of Olympia; You are hereby notified that the Northern Pacific Railroad Company accepts your proposals.' This was looked upon in the light of a Christmas gift, and a magnificent gift it was esteemed. Nearly all our citizens seemed to feel as if they had an interest in it, whether they owned a foot of land or not.
“This was looked upon in the light of a Christmas gift, and a magnificent gift it was esteemed.”
In 1871, Olympia's identity was tied to the speculative gamble of securing a rail terminus. Today, that same anxiety over infrastructure and transit connectivity remains a defining feature of Puget Sound municipal politics.
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