Old Capitol Building

View the Old Capitol Building on the Capitol Campus Map.

The Old Capitol Building stands prominently in downtown Olympia, overlooking Sylvester Park. Today, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction occupies it.

History

In 1890, Washington state citizens voted for Olympia to become the state's capitol. With this vote, Thurston County wanted to find a location to build its new courthouse. During the struggle to choose a location, Sylvester Park became a potential site for the building. However, the park was too significant to be removed, as it served as the public square for the Olympia community. The State eventually decided to keep the park and build the new courthouse across the street.

On December 12, 1890, Thurston County commissioners chose architect Willis A. Ritchie to develop plans for a $113,000 building to serve as the new county seat of government. Just a month later, Ritchie produced the full plans, consisting of fireproof materials and a 150-foot-tall clock tower. The groundbreaking took place on May 15, 1891.

Construction took a little over a year to complete, and on October 12, 1892, the commissioners formally accepted the Thurston County Courthouse for $125,000. By January 1893, the county's offices and legislative and judicial staff occupied the building.

That same year, the State of Washington sponsored a design competition for a new state capitol building. Washington's third governor, John R. Rogers, purchased the Thurston County Courthouse in 1901 for $350,000 to use as the state capitol building. The Legislature also approved another $500,000 to add a legislative annex to the building to contain chambers for the Senate, House of Representatives, and executive offices. They rehired Ritchie for this work.

In design and construction, Ritchie largely followed the original structure's style, form, patterns, and textures, evolving the Thurston County Courthouse into the Washington State Capitol Building.

Although plans slated the building for completion by 1903, the Legislature did not convene its first full session there until two years later. This State Capitol Building was formally dedicated on January 11, 1905, at Governor Albert Mead's inauguration.

Some newspapers and politicians criticized the architect, general contractor, and state project managers for taking four years to complete the expansion project. In contrast, the original courthouse building took just one year to complete. Nevertheless, once the new Capitol Building began operating, the public recognized it as a resourceful solution to the Capitol Building problem during difficult economic times. The open House and Senate chambers' public galleries came at a time when progressive reforms targeted back-room politics and closed-door political sessions.

Since its first legislative session in January 1905, Thurston County delegates complained that the accommodations were too small and needed a bigger, more monumental state capitol building. However, for the next 22 years, this Capitol Building was the stage for some of Washington's most formative and important acts of democracy and lawmaking. Then, starting in 1928, legislative sessions would occur in the new Legislative Building on West Capitol Campus.

When the Legislature and executive offices of state government moved to the new Legislative Building in 1928, the growing Superintendent of Public Instruction offices remained, along with several smaller agencies.

On September 9, 1928, a major fire caused severe damage to the Old Capitol Building. Nobody could trace the fire to a specific cause or ignition point, but most of the damage occurred in the timber roof framing on the main section of the building. The fire destroyed the entire roof and framing over the Public Works Department offices and the central clock tower. Thousands of people gathered and watched from Sylvester Park and nearby rooftops as the flames and smoke consumed the clock tower and large portions of the roof. Some citizens, employees and even Boy Scouts ran in and out of the burning building to recover valuable state records, artwork, and ledgers from open vaults.

Firefighters from Olympia and Tacoma sprayed water onto the flames from outside the building after large roof sections melted away or collapsed with the framing. By that time, damage had spread to the east wing, causing a massive chandelier to fall three stories onto the rotunda floor. While the fire destroyed large parts of the roof and clock tower, water damage ultimately ruined the building's interior.

Repair work began with demolishing the burnt-out clock tower. In reframing and building the new roof structure, a flat gable end replaced the balcony between the two cone-shaped structures above the entry, preserving the facade's formal symmetry.

In June 1938, the Old Capitol Building received new steam pipes and radiators, a boiler, and modernized electrical wiring and service.

In April 1949, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake severely damaged the Old Capitol Building. Ten of the 12 remaining roof towers had to be removed. Interior repairs resulted in the loss of the east wing rotunda that once separated the House and Senate chambers, along with the once-crowded public galleries that were removed from the south end of the annex.

In early 1981, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction completely vacated the building to make way for a major structural and interior rehabilitation. The work began with seismic reinforcement upgrades, interior framing and stairs, wood window restoration, and exterior stonework and cleaning. As a functional location for mechanical and ventilation units, crews added two cone-shaped towers on the east side of the building, copying the ones on the main entry on the west side.

In February 1982, the final phase of work started with interior plaster and wall finishing, new elevators and restrooms, and a copper roof that replaced slate shingles. On February 21, 1983, the $9 million project concluded, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction began occupying the building again.