As roads go, Sixty-Five Road is a short one. On Olympia’s far Westside, it covers the gap between 20th Avenue NW and 14th Avenue NW. If you’ve ever been out to Hansen Elementary or Marshall Middle, that’s the road you’ve been on. It also serves as the western boarder to the Goldcrest Neighborhood and the…
Category: Olympia history
How our history of downzoning is an argument against “local control” in the legislature and has huge impacts on racial discrimination in housing
Eastside Olympia in the midst of large downzone. As the legislature discusses zoning reform that would allow for modest density increases in exclusionary singe family neighborhoods, it is important to focus on the history of so-called “local control.” The ability for local governments to determine their own zoning fate has become the primary argument…
In response to “In Defense of Priest Point Park”
In the debate over renaming Priest Point Park to Squaxin Park, David Nicandri has written “In Defense of Priest Point Park.” I’m glad David’s thoughts were finally posted. I had heard through the grapevine that he had come to a position counter to honoring the wishes of the Squaxin Island Tribe. His long-time work in…
Interstate 5 did not destroy Tumwater’s downtown. It was already dead. Killed by isolation
One of the most persistent Olympia-area history myths is that Interstate 5 destroyed Tumwater’s downtown. I’ve written about this before, so what follows you can find in different forms in other places, but I tidied it up for this post. Daisy Ackley in her “Wagon Wheel’s A’Rolling” history tells what has become common knowledge in…
Black Lake Way, old Black Lake Road and how history could have been
One of the most interesting, long-term and simmering debates in Olympia, is how several dozen blocks in SW Olympia are connected to the rest of the city. Southwest Olympia south of Division and east of the mall is an interesting place. Unlike anywhere else in the city, they are unusually cut off from the rest…
Who was Karen Frazier?
Not Karen Fraser, but Karen Frazier. Because the name of a street in Southeast Olympia resembles the name of a longtime local politician, I’ve always wondered who the Karen Frazier (not Fraser) of the street actually was. Who had been well-known or important enough in Olympia decades ago to name a dog-legged street after? Well,…
Olympia housing post in two parts: Answering a question on Ron Rants and asking a question on Samuel Stein
Both of these came up at the same time, so I’m doing them in one post. 1. Answering Steve Salmi’s question here first: …Dan Leahy was right to “follow the money” regarding tax breaks for developers – including Ron Rants. Olympia would do well to display greater transparency in its decision making if it wishes…
The Indian Shaker Church and the Lewis Family totem pole
Surprisingly terrible people. And, by way of making this re-telling of these incongruent stories even weirder, they both originally were written about in the same edition of the Daily Olympian on July 5, 1970. The Indian Shaker Church on Mud Bay needed to be rebuilt. It had burned down in the winter before. And, in…