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The Port of Olympia, was established in 1922 and was in high gear in the 1940s.

From Superior Shipping Service:  A History of the Port of Olympia:

“With the outbreak of war the Port was designated for air use and a guard posted there in 1941.  Shipbuilding got underway in 1942 at the Port when Prefabricated Ships Inc., later Puget Sound Shipbuilding and Olympia Ship Building, located on the fill.  Large quantities of lend-lease cargo passed through the Port, destined for Russia in 1942. 

Expansion plans for increased tracks and warehousing facilities marked the federal programs in 1943 at the Port.

 A locomotive boom crane was acquired, transit shed A was enlarged, and in the summer large amounts of lend-lease traffic were shipped. The Port installed tracks, terminal connections of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1945 along with new bulkheading to accommodate the shipments of men and material for the Pacific War effort.

The post war period marked an era of continued activity at the Port and environs.  The Reserve Mothball Fleet which anchored off Gull Harbor near Olympia was not directly related to the Port although vessels were first brought to the Olympia harbor servicing at the Port docks and the fleet office was on the fill for many years.  Channel dredging was done in 1946 to accommodate the fleet.”  (Stevenson, Shanna. Superior Shipping Service:  A History of the Port of Olympia, Port of Olympia, 1982, 1985, pp. 17 and 18.)

For more Port of Olympia history see:
https://seaport.portolympia.com

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Olympia’s firefighting history extends back to the 1850s and is often recognized as the first Fire Department in Washington Territory. Originally the first fire service was a “club” and it wasn’t until later that it became a part of city government. Barnes Hook & Ladder, Columbia Fire Company No. 1 and, for a short time, the “Squilgees” were some of the names of the other early groups.

The Olympia Fire Department had facilities on Columbia Street for Columbia Fire Company #2 and also at Old City Hall on 4th Avenue for Fire Company #1. The building on 4th Avenue, was built in the late 1860s and was known as “Columbia Hall.” Located on the site of what is now the Columbia Building, next to the State Theater, it served as both the Olympia City Hall and Fire Station.

After the turn of the 20th century, the city decided to build a new city hall and firehouse. The debate was whether to use the Columbia Street Fire Station site or to build at State Avenue and Capitol Way. The final decision was based partly on the desire to have a fine building at this important corner in the city, with its proximity to the many lumber mills in the area (prone to fire) and Percival Landing nearby.

The new 1912 building not only had city offices and the fire department but also the town library donated by the Woman’s Club of Olympia (the new Carnegie Library was not built until 1914) and the Chamber of Commerce. Over time the building housed police functions as well and a building next door was the City Water department. City Government moved out of the building in 1966 to a new city hall on Plum Street. Olympia’s current City Hall on 4th Avenue was completed in 2011. The Fire Department moved to their new station on the East Side in the early 1990s. The Olympia Community Center next door to the State and Capitol location, was built in the mid-1980s.

Barbara Greene was the city’s first female firefighter. She began her service in the 1980s and had a long career in the department. 

The 1912 City Hall and Fire Station building is listed on the Olympia Heritage Register. The building was used for a number of years as the Family Support center, which relocated a few years ago. After the Fire Department moved out of the building, the original fire equipment bays were enclosed and the building was reinforced but the exterior looks much as it did when it was built.

For more Fire Department history see: 
http://olympiawa.gov/city-services/fire-department/history-of-the-olympia-fire-department.aspx
Spicklemire, Frank. “Some Moments of History of the Olympia Fire Department.” Olympia Washington: A People’s History, edited by Drew Crooks, City of Olympia. 2009, p. 67-70.

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Reliable Welding was founded by Alfred Lewis in 1924 in downtown Olympia on State Street between Capitol Way and Columbia, where he did general welding. Lewis was a native of Crosby, Washington. He had served an apprenticeship at the Bremerton navy yard as a coppersmith during World War I. He came to Olympia from Seattle where he had worked for Skinner and Eddy Shipyards. Lewis bought land on West Bay in 1940 and acquired the crane from the Anderson Gang Mill which had closed in 1939. The firm built the current large building in 1941 of used wood and metal since building materials were scarce during the war. It was built on the former site of a lumber Gang Mill. 

Al Lewis began building small steel craft for the Navy.  As many as 300 men worked there at one time. The firm built welded steel oil barges of 100,000 gallon capacity at site in 1941. In 1942 they built the Kapalama, a 52 foot long welded steel tug for Pacific Naval Airbase Contractors in Alameda, California. In 1943-44 the firm built the 55-foot steel diesel tug Ruby VIII for General Construction Co. During World War II, they built sixteen, 90-ton, welded steel, diesel tugboats designated ST-34 through 39, ST-164 through 170 and ST-12 through 14 for the US Army.

In 1943, the firm also contracted for six larger steel tugs, 85 feet long with 600-horsepower diesel engines for the army. In 1945, Reliable built a steel railway car barge for the Drummond Lighterage Co. They built the ships on structures called shipways which were constructed on pilings. Workers earned about $.60 to $.70 per hour. In 1946, the firm built the F. H. Lovejoy, the flagship of Puget Sound Freight Lines fleet, probably the largest vessel built at Reliable, measuring 178.4 feet long with a beam of 36 feet. The ship was built outside the plant on a shipway of greased timbers. The vessel traveled between Puget Sound and British Columbia. In 1947, the firm built the Kolo, a diesel tug for Young Bros., Ltd, of Honolulu. It was designed by L. H. Coolidge. In the 1950s Reliable Welding built buoy tenders for the U.S. Coast Guard. The firm built the 72-foot Brynn Foss for Foss Tugs in 1950-51. Materials for fabrication came by rail and truck and included steel plate, beams, angles and channels. The last vessel built at the facility was the Cedar King which was built for Olympia Towing in 1970. It was a 41-foot welded steel tug. During the 1960s, the firm manufactured pressurized tanks for the Olympia Brewery that were launched into the water and were lined by another firm. The tanks were shipped by rail to the brewery after they were completed.

The firm was later managed by the son and son-in-law of Al Lewis, A. R. “Dick” Lewis and Gil Olson. In 1974, the firm was incorporated as Reliable Steel Fabricators to signal a more diversified business. Reliable manufactured tanks beginning in the 1950s for underground storage for homes and for municipalities. They also custom-built oil delivery tank trucks for firms such as Acme Fuel and Ordel Oil. The firm employed members of the Boilermakers Union and after World War II, employment was about 15-25 men, which remained steady. The firm was a capital-intensive business which had specialized equipment which could be used to manufacture many specialty items. The workers included craftsmen to complete the fittings and carpenter work on vessels.  During the oil crisis of the 1970s, the firm did a thriving business in gas tanks for home use.

In 1983, the firm was purchased by grandsons of Al Lewis, Jerry and Bart Olson. They developed the business to include fabricating more structural elements and processing equipment, particularly for the pulp and paper industry. They continued the manufacture of tanks and added the production of large diameter pipe—as large as 16 feet in diameter with a ½” to 1” thickness. The pipe was used for jacking beneath roadways. They shipped their materials regionally. The Olson’s sold the firm in 1998 to ITEQ which in turn sold it to BMT or Brown-Minneapolis Tank which, as of 2005, continued to manufacture tanks using the same facility that was built in 1941.

Reliable Welding, later Steel Fabricators, used a variety of rollers and cutters to fashion the plate into products, much of the equipment dates from the 1940s. Some of the local installations of their products include the City of Olympia water tanks at 7th and Fir and on Hoffman Road and three tanks on Tumwater Hill for the City of Tumwater. (Stevenson, Shanna, Senior Planner, Olympia Heritage Commission and Thurston Regional Planning Council, "West Bay Industrial History and Timeline.” Sarah Smyth McIntosh Contract, 2005.)

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In 1952 the Washington State Fisheries started the construction of an extensive network of fishways along Tumwater Falls.  The Department of Fisheries first planted the Deschutes in 1946 with fall chinook fingerlings from the Green River Salmon Hatchery. This artificial run is one of the most successful in history. The fishways reaching 775 feet along the falls provide passage for salmon from Capitol Lake through Tumwater Canyon to the upper river at level 90 feet higher. The upper Deschutes River has about 30 miles of good spawning grounds. In 1961 two holding ponds - each 20 by 90 feet - were built to facilitate fish handling. 

A new facility for Chinook and Coho salmon propagation opened at Tumwater Falls in 2020. The updated Department of Fish and Wildlife facility increased holding capacity, releasing 3.8 million fry are released annually. It also improved the quality of the discharge water. Four large windows provide visitors with an underwater view of the fish ladders.

For more about Tumwater Falls history and salmon propagation see:
https://olytumfoundation.org/dt_gallery/salmon-return-seasonal-activity/
https://wdfw.medium.com/tumwater-falls-chinook-facility-renovation-breaks-ground-a86435694fd
https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/0f3f29e7-7b32-4ddf-b2c7-25407eb7306e

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The Olympia Brewery was started as the “Capital Brewery” in 1896 by Leopold Schmidt. The early labels of the brewery featured the falls of the Deschutes River and the luck horse-shoe.  By 1902 the name of the Brewery had been changed to Olympia Brewing Company from Capital Brewing Company. It was also in 1902 that the slogan, “It’s the Water,” was adopted. It was the idea of Frank M. Kenney, who was the secretary, office and advertising manager of the company. He thought the uniqueness of the water, which made Olympia Beer so distinctive should be told in the slogan. He had to convince Leopold Schmidt but it served the company well. (Stevenson, Shanna. Olympia, Tumwater and Lacey: A Pictorial History, Virginia Beach, VA: Donning Company Publishers, 1985, 1996, pp. 158-183.)

For more information see:
https://olytumfoundation.org/2015/10/the-birth-of-a-slogan-the-story-of-its-the-water/
https://www.brewerygems.com/olympia.htm

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The Canoe Journey has its origins in thousands of years of Native American history as watercraft experts. The Canoe Journey has its roots in a 1989 event “Paddle to Seattle” organized as part of the State Centennial and has grown to be one of the area’s most important cultural events. Hosted by various tribes, Olympia has seen canoe landings with “Paddle to Squaxin in 2012” and “Paddle to Nisqually in 2016.”

For more information see:
https://squaxinisland.org/
https://jamestowntribe.org/
http://www.nisqually-nsn.gov/index.php/heritage/canoe-journey/
https://theresahenderson.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/paddle-to-squaxin-2012-teachings-of-our-ancestors/
http://www.tribalmuseum.jamestowntribe.org/hsg/exhibits/canoe/journeys.php

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Olympia is traditional Squaxin Island Tribal Land. “Squaxin used open weave baskets for shellfish harvesting and for purging. The baskets filled with clams, oysters and other shellfish are submerged for a few hours to cleanse the shellfish before eating or smoking.” Courtesy of the Squaxin Island Museum, Library & Research Center.

“Squaxin Island Tribe is comprised of several bands one specifically is Steh-Chass, the Tribe for centuries has proudly known the connection to place ‘People of Water’ of artesian waters in present day Olympia and equally important the marine waters.” (Charlene Krise, Director - Squaxin Island Museum, Library and Research Center)

For more information see:
https://squaxinisland.org/
“A People’s History of the Seven Inlets Steh-Chass,” Squaxin Island Tribe Museum Library and Research Center, 2018.
Carriere, Ed, Dale R. Croes, et. al.  Re-awakening Ancient Salish Sea Basketry: Fifty years of Basketry Studies in Culture and Science. San Bernardino, CA: Amazon Digital Services, Inc., 2019.

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“One of the high points of the depression-ridden year in Olympia was the visit of the historic frigate, the USS Constitution. Built in 1917, the ship was first used against French privateers and destroyed the English frigate Guerrier in the War of 1812. Rebuilt a number of times, the ship had been refurbished through the contributions of American schoolchildren in 1925 before its visit to Olympia.

The Olympia community greeted and entertained the ship and crew in grand style during the ten-day stay of the ship. Band concerts, a grand naval ball, luncheons and private parties feted the guests. Over 39,000 people visited the ship as it welcomed its four millionth visitor in Olympia.”  (Stevenson, Shanna. Olympia, Tumwater and Lacey:  A Pictorial History, Virginia Beach, VA: Donning Company Publishers, 1985, 1996, pg. 187)

For more information see:
https://www.historylink.org/File/10269
https://mynorthwest.com/983038/famous-ships-forgotten-connections-to-the-pacific-northwest/
https://www.sos.wa.gov/archives/search_results.aspx?q=USS+Constitution&region=

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In 1957, residents got together to inaugurate “Lakefair,” the capital’s annual summer fest. Olympia had hosted a number of summer celebrations including in 1935, the “Pagan Frolic,” but in 1956 hosted a carnival and in 1957 officially dubbed the celebration ”Lakefair” which grew steadily to include princesses, parades, floats sports events, concerts, arts, fireworks and other festive events including an annual carnival along Capital Lake which features rides and concessions. (Adapted from: Stevenson, Shanna. Olympia, Tumwater and Lacey: A Pictorial History, Virginia Beach, VA: Donning Company Publishers, 1985, 1996, pg. 200.)

For more information see:
https://www.lakefair.org/
https://www.thurstontalk.com/2017/07/09/capital-lakefair-history/

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During the period from 1916 to 1919, Olympia’s waterfront teemed with men building ships. New industries, including shipyards, located on the fill land created on Olympia’s waterfront after the massive dredging of the harbor during 1911-12. The Olympia Shipbuilding Company was established there in 1916 with E. R. Ward of Seattle as president and several local investors including J. L. Peters, Henry Mallory, C. J. Lord and P. H. Carlyon.

The Sloan Shipyard started construction early in 1917 north of the Ward yard. Seattle brothers, Phillip and Joseph A. Sloan, owned the firm. Local business people prepared the site and leased the land to the Sloans. The yards provided a booming market for local lumber mills.  Each of the wooden vessels required more than 1.5 million feet of timber. The ways and yards required another several million feet, all supplied locally. The Sloan firm also acquired Capital City Iron Works to fabricate ship fittings.

By mid-November, 1916, the keel of an auxiliary-motor schooner for Norwegian owners had been laid at the Ward yards. A month later 400 men working day and night shifts had framed the first ship and the keel of a second had been laid. Both the Ward and Sloan yards built wooden ships to accommodate the shipment of lumber for the Atlantic trade. Workers, led by A. J. McCaughan and Gust Patzke, formed a Shipwright’s, Caulkers and Joiners Union, Local No. 1148, in April 1917. A Carpenters’ Union, Local #956 had already organized in Olympia in 1889. The two groups officially merged in 1919. At their height, the shipyards employed nearly a thousand men on ten shipways in Olympia. The workers organized a baseball squad which competed against shipyard and other teams around the Sound. They also formed the Sloan Shipyards band. Employees participated in patriotic events such as war bond rallies. However, the prevailing labor unrest of the teens affected the work at the yards. The union struck repeatedly during 1917-1919. The most skilled workers earned $6.50 a day, others made $2.50 to $3.00.  Sloans also paid bonuses for those who stayed at the yards a year or more.  

With the outbreak of war with Germany in April 1917, the United States scrambled for ships. The Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) was established just weeks after war was declared.  In August 1917, the EFC commandeered all of the shipbuilding in the U. S. to provide new tonnage. To fulfill the Emergency Fleet Corporation needs, the Olympia firms rushed to construct wooden launching ways and plant buildings. Sloans had already signed contracts in May 1917 for sixteen vessels for the federal government for $490,000 each. Four of the hulls were built at their yards in Anacortes and four were later cancelled. 

The Ward yards built three, five-masted schooners with auxiliary engines for Norwegian owners. The launching of the first ship, Wergeland, in July 1917 was cause for an Olympia civic celebration complete with speeches, bands, free Appleju from the Olympia Brewery (prohibition was in effect in Washington) and a celebratory lunch. The firm had financial trouble and was acquired by Sloan Shipyard in late 1917.  They later launched the schooners General Pershing in January 1918 and the Korsnaes in February 1918.

The Emergency Fleet Corporation assumed management of Sloan Shipyard itself in December 1917. The Sloan yard built four wooden motorships for the Australian Government--the Cethana, in 1918 and later the Culburra, Coolchaand Challumba. The company completed steamships Sewickly, Mahnet, Himoto, Hyannis, Conewago, Cabacan (barge), Cozian (barge) and Dacula (barge) for the government in 1919. Because of the end of the war, many of these hulls were never used. At the end of EFC management in 1919, two unfinished hulls remained on the ways of Sloan Shipyard. They were eventually sold to salvage firms for bargain prices.      

After it was established in 1922, the Port of Olympia used the shipyard for its first piers. The Port filled additional land at the site and constructed wharves there in 1925. (Contributed by Shanna Stevenson.)

Additional reading:
Newell, Gordon, ed. H.W. McCurdy’s Marine History of the Northwest. Seattle: Superior Publishing Co., 1966.
Newspapers published during the period. 

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From WSHS Catalog: “Photograph of two long canoes racing in the Deschutes Estuary, Olympia, WA, Thurston County, on July 4, 1905. According to accompanying narrative, we are looking toward downtown Olympia from the Fourth Avenue Bridge. Two canoes are racing, each one with eleven paddlers. A small steamer is observing the race. In the distance we can see the wooded Capitol Hill and the railroad bridge across the Deschutes Estuary. We can just make out the old Territorial Capitol hidden among the trees, St. Peter's Hospital, Providence Academy, and the steeple of First Congregational Church. A beach is along the bank, with pilings extending into the estuary.”

For more information, see:
Olympia Daily Recorder July 5, 1905
Morning Olympian July 5, 1905
https://www.washingtonhistory.org/research/collection-item/search_term=C1949.1276.1&search_params=search_term%253DC1949.1276.1&irn=152492
Image source: https://www.washingtonhistory.org/research/collection-item/?search_term=C1949.1276.2&search_params=search_term%253DC1949.1276.2&irn=152353