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Category: Capitol Campus

Capitol Campus

But where is the building?

But where is the building?

(Photo courtesy Washington State Archives) We found this old photo in the State Archives that shows construction on the north side of the Legislative Building in September 1923. At this point, only the steps and first floor were visible. The building was completed in 1928. The photo below shows the north side of Washington’s Capitol today. With its tall dome and grand appearance, the Legislative Building is a prominent sight from Capitol Lake and the Olympia waterfront. (Photo courtesy Patrick…

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Holiday Kids’ Tree is here, lighting event Friday

Holiday Kids’ Tree is here, lighting event Friday

Wearing his black overcoat, Gov. Inslee helps DES employees haul the Holiday Kids’ Tree into the Legislative Building. (Photo courtesy of Patrick McDonald) If you can’t tell by seeing it, you can by the evergreen scent: The state Holiday Kids’ Tree has arrived and is standing tall in the Legislative Building rotunda. Gov. Jay Inslee joined several Department of Enterprise Services workers Monday morning bringing in the 25-foot Noble fir, donated by Winkelman’s Tree Farm in Olympia. The tree will…

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Watch TVW’s coverage of WA 1889 exhibit launch

Watch TVW’s coverage of WA 1889 exhibit launch

Secretary Wyman helps launch our office’s new exhibit on 1889 Washington. Seated from left are former Sen. Stuart Halsan, Shanna Stevenson and Russell Holter.   If you missed attending the recent grand opening of our office’s latest historical exhibit, no worries. TVW has the event available for viewing on its website. The new exhibit is called Washington 1889: Blazes, Rails and the Year of Statehood. It’s on display in our office’s front lobby until next August. You can watch the…

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Add a message to the state’s Time Capsule!

Add a message to the state’s Time Capsule!

Centennial Time Capsule, located at the south end of the Capitol, will receive more items soon. Have you ever wanted to send a message to the future? Now’s your chance. The Capsule Keepers are asking Washingtonians to write messages to future generations that will be kept inside the state’s Centennial Time Capsule. Messages will be microfilmed and sealed in the Time Capsule until its 2389 opening, 500 years after Washington reached statehood in 1889. As part of the Washington 125…

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Happy 125th birthday, Washington!

Happy 125th birthday, Washington!

Members of the 2014 Capsule Keepers sit on the Rotunda floor as they and hundreds of others listen to the state’s 125th birthday celebration program in the Capitol. You only turn 125 once. And the state of Washington did it right. Hundreds gathered in the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday afternoon to join in the state’s 125th birthday celebration. Among the state officials speaking at the event were Gov. Jay Inslee (First Lady Trudi Inslee also spoke) and Secretary of State Kim…

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Getting a sneak peek at 1889 WA exhibit

Getting a sneak peek at 1889 WA exhibit

Our office’s next great historical exhibit, Washington 1889: Blazes, Rails & the Year of Statehood, should be ready for the public to see on Tuesday, Oct. 21.  Secretary Wyman enjoyed a sneak peak of the exhibit panels. She and our office’s Legacy Washington staff joined Washington State Historical Society Executive Director Jennifer Kilmer (second from right in the photo below)  in checking out the panels shortly after they arrived. The exhibit’s official opening is Nov. 11 at 4 p.m., following…

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Drivers beware: I-5 will be mess in Olympia next 2 weekends

Drivers beware: I-5 will be mess in Olympia next 2 weekends

This part of Interstate 5 in Olympia will face lane and ramp closures during the weekends of Sept. 12 and Sept. 19. Very long backups are expected. (Photos courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation)  We normally love to encourage people to come visit Olympia, especially our beautiful Capitol Campus. But if you’re driving on Interstate 5 during the next two weekends, make sure to avoid using the freeway in our state capital during that time. That’s the word from…

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Historian to share story behind Capsule Keepers

Historian to share story behind Capsule Keepers

Secretary of State Ralph Munro (left) and Gov. Booth Gardner with several of the Capsule Keepers during the Centennial Celebration in Olympia on Nov. 11, 1989. Standing behind Gardner is Knute Berger, who will give a talk Monday about  the history of the Capsule Keepers. (Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives) Journalist and historian Knute “Skip” Berger is speaking in Olympia Monday (Sept. 8) at noon about the history and role of the Capsule Keepers, the group tasked with maintaining…

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Our Capitol, now and way back then

Our Capitol, now and way back then

The Legislative Building as it currently stands. (Photo courtesy of Katy Payne) Washington’s Capitol, known as the Legislative Building, is well known for its grandeur and magnificence. As you stand on one of the 42 steps (the significance being because Washington was the 42nd state) leading to one of the massive 2,000-pound bronze front doors and look up, it might astound you how much larger the building is in person than it seems in photographs. Rising to 287 feet, it…

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Time’s running out for Capitol botanical tour

Time’s running out for Capitol botanical tour

Every day, the Washington State Capitol is open to the public for tours of the Legislative Building. Beginning in the middle of August, a cool new tour was added – a botanical tour of the whole lush campus. In a state known for its abundance of trees and plantings, it only makes sense that the Capitol Campus would be a shining example of Washington’s love of nature. The Olmsted Brothers of Central Park fame were the original designers after all….

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