First schoolhouse in Olympia, Washington
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The first schoolhouse in Olympia, Washington was built in 1852.[1][2] According to an 1853 newspaper, it was one of three schools north of Cowlitz Landing, Washington (i.e. in Washington Territory), and the only public school of the three.[a] Its foundation preceded public schools in other early Puget Sound region settlements; Steilacoom, the state's first town to incorporate,[4] was taught out of a living room when the state's first school district was created there in 1854,[5] and the landing of the Denny Party in Alki (Seattle) was less than one year prior.
Early Washington schools, built beginning from the 1850s, were made of locally sourced materials, log cabin style.[6] It stood at a location described as "on a hill" bounded by Fifth and Sixth Streets (now Legion) between Franklin and Washington;[7] now the block holds Joseph Wohleb's 1912 design Jeffers Studio[8] and the Capitol Theater.
The first Fourth of July oration in Washington (a common Independence Day celebration in the 19th century) was held at the schoolhouse shortly after creation of Washington Territory in 1853. The building collapsed after a heavy snowfall the following year.[7] A new two-story school building was built at the same location; when the school moved to the Central School location at Union and Washington, the old schoolhouse was used as the Thurston County courthouse.[2]
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ The Columbian, Olympia, July 16, 1853 reported by Hubert Howe Bancroft in 1890[3]
References[edit]
- ^ Barbara Ziegenmeyer, "Historical Sketch of Thurston County", George Washington Bush - Tumwater Pioneer (website)
- ^ a b Selden's/Site of First School/Thurston County Courthouse-Franklin Street/Daily Olympian, Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum
- ^ Hubert Howe Bancroft (1890), History of Washington, Idaho and Montana 1845-1889, The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol. 31, San Francisco: History Company, p. 375 – via Internet Archive
- ^ Paula Becker (November 13, 2006), "Pierce County — Thumbnail History", HistoryLink, Seattle: History Ink
- ^ Dunkelberger, Steve; Neary, Walter (2005), Lakewood, Arcadia Publishing, p. 22, ISBN 9780738530451
- ^ Mary Jane Honegger, Washington State Historic Schools Status 2002 (PDF), Washington Trust for Historic Preservation
- ^ a b Georgiana Mitchell Blankenship (1914), Early History of Thurston County, Washington: Together with Biographies and Reminiscences of Those Identified with Pioneer Days, p. 206
- ^ Joseph H. Wohleb 1887–1958, Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation