On July 1, 1875, the collection was disrupted again, having been moved to “Tacoma Hall,” a two-story structure located at Fourth Avenue and Columbia Street in Olympia. This was done as a temporary move due to repairs that were needed at the original Capitol Building.
In November of 1854, the library was relocated to a small wood-frame building on Fourth and Main Street. Territorial Librarian B.F. Kendall had the structure built specifically to hold the library materials, the law insisting that it be housed “as convenient as possible to the house occupied by the legislative assembly.”
From the desk of Sean Lanksbury. PNW & Special Collections Librarian As the Washington State Library nears its 160th anniversary, the staff here have been reflecting on the movement, growth, and development of the Library’s collections and services from the Territorial up through this modern era – and the impact these factors have had on life of Washingtonians. Follow us over the next few weeks as we trace the movement of the original Territorial Library Collection, which not only lives on at the…
[One bit of folklore concerning the Washington State Library Territorial Collection has to do with the original source of ownership for a dozen books, mostly vellum bound and chiefly dating back to the 1500s. When old catalogers gather around the campfire at night, they tell tales of the ancient books in WSL that were initially part of the library at the Catholic Mission in Priests Point, in north Olympia. And if this is fact, these library books predate all others…
(Photo courtesy of Washington State Library) It’s time for the September edition of “Library jewels,” our monthly blog series that highlights rare, interesting or just plain cool items found in the State Library. Our first jewel definitely falls under the “rare” category. It’s a book printed in 1814 and entitled “A geographical view of the British possessions in North America,” by M. (Michael) Smith. The book is part of the State Library’s Territorial Collection. When this book was written, the…