… that if you count the steps leading up to the entrance of the capitol building, you’ll find out in what order Washington joined the union? That’s right – but the secret is counting the steps correctly. Start at ground zero and count each step. Just make sure you don’t count the landings and remember that the last step into the building is at the front door. If you count properly, you should get to 42 steps. In 1889, Washington State became the…
How in the world did the fuzzy, furry Olympic marmot become a symbol of Washington State? It all happened this year, when the Legislature passed Senate Bill 5071 declaring the Olympic marmot as the state’s endemic mammal. Gov. Gregoire signed the bill into law on May 12. It takes effect July 26. The idea for making the Olympic marmot a state symbol came from students at Wedgwood Elementary School in Seattle. The students suggested it to Sen. Ken Jacobsen, who…
…that the statues of Mother Joseph and Marcus Whitman, located in the entrance to our State Capitol, are only replicas of the originals from the Washington D.C. National Statuary Hall Collection? Consisting of bronze, Mother Joseph is the shortest statue whereas Marcus Whitman is the tallest of all the statues in the entire hall. Each state in the union was allowed to submit two statues honoring notable people in their history. Get more details about these remarkable Washington pioneers by reading about Mother…
Congrats Steven, for getting all the marble answers right! (He even got the bonus question right – all the marble DID cost $840,000 back in the day). For those of you waiting with baited breath, the answer key to your marble questions: Belgian marble: Located on the State Reception Room floor. French marble: Located in the chamber of the House of Representatives. Italian marble: Located on the walls and pillars of the State Reception Room. German marble: Located in the…
… Marble placed throughout the Oly capitol when it was first built in the 1920s comes from FIVE different countries. Can you name every country?? (Bonus if you can guess how much it all cost as well…) Leave your guesses below in comments. I’ll post answers at 4:00 pm today.
… The Washington State Archives was used to crack an unsolved mystery here at the State Capitol. For years, rumor had it that there was only one fatality in the construction of the Legislative Building, but it was never confirmed until recent years. In March of 2007, Tony Aitken, a history instructor at South Puget Sound Community College and a State Capitol Tour Guide, decided to get to the bottom of this rumor. He used the Washington State Archives to…
As many of us prepare to hit the road for the Memorial Day weekend outings, Governor Gregoire has proclaimed Thursday “Drive Nice Day.” If we could add a little amendment and just call it “Drive Nice All Weekend” ? No road rage, no crankiness, no collisions or close calls. Just sweetness and excellent driving. Ahhh.
Our digital collections librarian, who is working on a library project to digitize all past Washington State Voters Pamphlets, stumbled across a crowd pleaser: a blast from the past! There in the 1988 voters’ pamphlet, is Sam Reed running for state auditor. Our current Washington Secretary of State didn’t win his race that year; Robert V. Graham D beat him out with 55.43% to Reed’s 44.57%. But Reed did go on to be elected Thurston County Auditor five times. The Library started with digitizing…
… the story pole on the west capitol campus was purchased by the donations of schoolchildren? Washington kids all over the state brought in pennies and raised $200 needed to buy the pole. May 14 marks 69 years since the story pole was dedicated. Chief William of the Snohomish Tribe began carving in 1938 and sadly passed away before he finished the massive piece of artwork, and carvers from his tribe finished it. Chief Shelton’s Story Pole has often been…
That some claim Olympia’s Dairy Queen on Capitol Way (that DQ shut down years ago) had the world’s first soft-serve ice cream machine. This photo, taken in 1965, comes from the Thurston County Assessors Property Card Photograph Collection, and is courtesy of our Washington State Archives.