The Thurston County Historic Commission (TCHC) just celebrated its 4th Annual Heritage Day last Saturday, honoring our diverse local heritage.
This event morphed from a previous one that was called “Thurston County Through the Decades,” and focused more on old-fashioned home skill demonstrations. Heritage Day reflects local efforts to protect and promote our heritage and history, giving more of a focus on the historic commission’s work.
Appropriately, this event was held in Heritage Hall, the log house front and center at the Thurston County Fairgrounds. In addition, they celebrated the county's 171st birthday!
Thurston County is named after Samuel R. Thurston, a man who, in 1849, was the first delegate to Congress from what was then Oregon Territory. Thurston died at the early age of 35, crossing the isthmus of Panama, on his way back from attending his first US Congress. Reinterred from Panama, he is buried in Salem, Oregon. Curiously, though the county is named for him, he never stepped foot here!
If you think 171 sounds like a big number for a birthday, it is! Thurston County was created in 1852 as a part of Oregon Territory, almost a year before Washington was carved out to form its own territory… and decades before Washington State’s birthday in 1889. Since then, 134 years have passed!
For this event, the TCHC invited historical organizations and speakers to sponsor table displays and to make short presentations on how they are working to help preserve heritage through county heritage grants and other projects. Here are a few:
Jessie Reeves Rush is working on an audio walking tour for historic Tenino and interpretive signage for the downtown area. She has worked since 2022 as the City of Tenino’s PARC Specialist (Parks, Arts, Recreation, Culture), bringing new ideas for interpreting Tenino’s old (long) history. Jessie is a long supporter of the Chamber of Commerce with her work with the South Thurston County Historical Society, Tenino Depot Museum, and the Tenino Garden Club.
The historic Schmidt House, owned by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation (OTF), was built by the Olympia Brewing Company founder Leopold Schmidt in 1904. The Schmidt House offers a look into the elegant side of another era and also contains the extensive Olympia Brewing Company and Schmidt family archives. Historian Karen Johnson shared the OTF plan to create an online video tour (Videographer Austin DeWees, RAPT) to share all four levels of the house with those who cannot manage the narrow byways and steps. (As of 2023, the first floor only became fully ADA accessible.)
The OTF is also continuing the legacy of the on-site Centennial Rose Garden. Through a program initiated by OTF, the few remaining members of the Olympia Rose Society, who have, over the years, maintained the 100-rose-bush garden, are passing on their knowledge and skills to Master Gardeners, who, with consultant Dr. Gary Ritchie, maintain the garden for the public to enjoy.
The historic Grand Mound School, near the Great Wolf Lodge, was built in 1905 and designed by architect Newton Gauntt. Originally from Indiana, Gauntt designed many courthouses, schools, and other public buildings throughout the Pacific Northwest and this school is one of the few of his structures still standing. A “renaissance man,” he also pursued other varied interests such as designing a “car that converted to a house,” running the Green Briar Orchard Company in Othello, and patenting a collapsible book-holder. Currently, the Friends of Grand Mound School led by Janice Arnold are working to restore the building’s exterior, hope to re-acquire the school grounds, and create a historic district in Grand Mound.
One of the oldest houses in the state still standing is the Bigelow House Museum. Through the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum, its volunteers continue the sacred trust to maintain the physical building and bring alive the 1850s through the lives of an exceptional early family and community. President of the Board of Directors Greg Griffith admits that maintaining the building is a relentless challenge. Grateful for both the TCHC and faithful Bigelow volunteers, they are currently completing a storm window project for two windows on the east side of the structure and exterior detail work (see photo). During the pandemic, they completed extensive restoration inside and out, taking advantage of the house’s public closure. Tours are now offered on the first and second Sundays of the month and by appointment. Those tracking the Bigelow House website or community calendars throughout the year will find historical events galore.
The Olympia Arts & Heritage Alliance (AHA), founded in 2018, seeks to secure a facility to house an Olympia museum focused on art, culture, and history/heritage. They are working toward this goal by responding to the city's request for proposals for the 1912 City Hall/ Fire Station at State Avenue and Capital Way. See the AHA website to view their several current projects.
Community Roots with Window Seat Media led by Mindy Chambers is working to create an interactive oral history project featuring underrepresented voices and the roots of collective care. This project is called The Third Thirty: Honoring and Amplifying the Voices of our Elders. The “third thirty” refers to people from ages 60-90. The project uses “micro-histories” or oral histories about specific moments, organizing efforts, or projects to explore contributions and creativity within a collective effort, demonstrating the vital and important ways we each contribute to an ecosystem of social change.
The applicable term is “de-colonizing history,” and the oral history project is named “Stories of the South Sound as told by those who lived it.” Museum Coordinator Felicia Rova-Chamroeun is in charge after completing a master’s thesis at the University of Washington on a similar topic.
With this project, the Lacey Museum and Cultural Center collects area histories from the perspective and experiences of people of varied cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds, and LGBTQIA+ community members. They want to build community relationships, be intentional and inclusive in storytelling, and portray a wider history of the South Sound region. To learn more or share your story, please reach out via this short survey. The funding for this project is through the grant program entitled Diversity in Local History through the Washington State Historical Society.
Dr. Thelma Jackson is the founder of the Northwest Institute of Leadership and Change which promotes community empowerment, conducts research, and provides data and analysis on leadership and systemic change issues. She has recently edited and published a book in February 2022 of 55 biographies entitled, Blacks in Thurston County, Washington 1950 to 1975: A Community Album. Read a review of the book, published JOLT. It is the first ever of its kind, the first account of black history in Thurston County. She is now working on a book covering the era of 1976-2023. Dr. Jackson’s long-term goal, in her effort toward diversity, equity, and inclusion, is to not only discover and share the black history of Thurston County but to integrate all the history of Thurston County together in one cohesive whole.
The 12-member all-volunteer commissioners of the TCHC work quietly but relentlessly year in and year out on their goal to preserve and interpret local history. The following commissioners posed for one of the photos attached to this article: Chris Hoffman, Rob Kirkwood, Bill Lindstrom, and David Petrich.
Dana Bowers, TCHC associate planner, encourages local citizens to see what is going on in the history arena through the commission and see how they might get involved – and “they” means you! Also, please insert a placeholder for next year –likely the second Saturday of the month.
Shirley Stirling, of Lacey, writes about good things people in Thurston County are doing. If you’d like to nominate someone to be profiled, contact her at shirley@theJOLTnews.com or comment below.
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griffithga
Thank you Shirley for keeping JOLT readers up to date on heritage related activities and events in Thurston County. This was another great time to get together and catch up on our collective work toward honoring and preserving local heritage.
Friday, October 20, 2023 Report this
stirlsa
Correction: The Window Seat Media oral history project funded through the Thurston County Heritage Grant Program and described in the article is called Community Roots. Community Roots is a project that grew from themes from the last iteration of The Third Thirty. While the Third Thirty is focused on elder stories, Community Roots is intergenerational and interactional. All of the oral history projects of Community Roots are collaborative efforts involving many community members who interview, research, and provide story ideas. Mindy Chambers is one of six Community Roots cohort members, and she is researching the Camp Quixote story, one of three stories they will highlight in an upcoming exhibit. Elaine Vradenburgh is the project facilitator, convening, and providing training to cohort members. She may be contacted at: elaine@windowseatmedia.org
Wednesday, November 1, 2023 Report this