olympia became the capital of washington in 1889.
olympia became the capital of washington in 1889.
when did olympia become the capital of washington?
1889
by the early 1850s american settlers began agitating to separate the area north of the columbia river from oregon territory. the agitation resulted in congress creating washington territory. isaac i. stevens served as its first governor. upon his arrival in 1853, stevens designated olympia capital of the new territory. the first territorial legislature convened early in 1854 at the parker and colter store on main street (now capital way) between state street and olympia ave. olympia's daniel bigelow represented thurston county in the first three legislatures. his family home still stands, now known as bigelow house museum, olympia's oldest surviving home.
history of olympia, washington
bullet::::- small town pride prior to 1990, pride parades were held in the relative safety of large cities. in 1991, olympia become the first small town outside of seattle to host a pride event. a group of olympia-based activists decided it was time to bring pride home to the small communities where glbt people live, work and raise their families. until then, glbt people traveled hundreds of miles to celebrate pride in the safety of large cities like seattle or san francisco. this initial group included evergreen students vikki marinelli, tod streater, kelly hawk and judith samuels and community-based people sid evans and michael murphy, and anna schlecht. together, their efforts produced the first olympia pride march that lead from marathon park and ended with a rally at the state capital, drawing a crowd of over 300 people.
capital city pride