Washington’s first Governor
On November 18, 1889, 3,000 elated Washingtonians gathered in Olympia to celebrate Washington’s new statehood and witness the inauguration of our first state Governor, Elisha P. Ferry. Below is a photograph of Governor Ferry’s inauguration at the territorial Capitol Building in Olympia. The territorial Capitol Building was eventually torn down in 1911 to make room for our current Legislative Building on the Capitol Campus. (Photo courtesy of the Washington State Digital Archives.)