If that's Mt. Rainier in
the background...
This is one of our favorite photos at the Archives. We have used it on posters, bookmarks, you name it. The photo is often referred to as "Rainier climber" but, um, that's Mount Rainier in the background. So, if Mount Rainier is in the background, then what is the climber descending from in this picture?

Lucky for me, the photographer wrote the answer on the back of the print. Otherwise I wouldn't know. Do you? (Click the image to view larger.)

March Photo Challenge Solution
Apparently Kettle Falls (pictured) looks remarkably similar to Celilo Falls (not pictured). Both water falls were once prolific fisheries and both falls met similar fates.

Where Kettle Falls once flowed, you can now find Lake Roosevelt, a hydrological result of the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam in 1941.

The Celilo Falls site, submerged by The Dalles Dam in 1957, is now Celilo Lake.


Cracking the Archives
Next month is an exciting time if you truly appreciate history and archival efforts.

Our May theme will honor transportation, We will celebrate with presentations of historic map, land, and transportation exhibits, which all gracefully tie together.
May is also Preservation Month so we will have a segment on preserving maps, including techniques that could help preserve your own records at home.

Event time and place: Olympia Archives Bldg., Sat., May 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Seating is limited and registration is required.

Last month, The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver noted the success of a project to digitize a valuable piece of local history: the City of Vancouver’s tax records from 1886-1891. Archives’ Tracy Rebstock assisted with the project and, as seen in this photo from The Columbian, accepted official custody of the two volumes. The records are now digitized and available online .
PSRB celebrated 20th anniversary
Property of the Month
H istory Happy Hour in May
The Puget Sound Regional Branch of the Washington State Archives honored the 20th anniversary of its home inside the Pritchard-Fleming Building located on the Bellevue College campus.

Secretary of State Kim Wyman, State Archivist Steve Excell, PSRB Archivist Michael Saunders and former Bellevue College President Jean Floten were all on hand to speak at the event.

SPUD Fish and Chips at Green Lake was already a Seattle landmark, but Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board was asked to decide whether the building should be formally granted landmark status. Ultimately the board declined the bid, and the restaurant will be demolished. The upside: the apartment building taking its place will have retail space on the ground floor, and SPUD will have a new facility built by the developer. This will include upgrades the restaurant might not have been able to afford otherwise.
History Happy Hour is returning in May, in partnership with the Washington State Historical Society. The theme will be Washington's transportation history.

The event will be on Thursday, May 17, at 7 p.m. at 3 Magnets Brewery in downtown Olympia.

Admission is free (food and drink are sold by the restaurant) so come enjoy some great trivia and better beer!
Out of the Archives, April 2018 banner photo: Horseback riders on rocky trail, General Subjects Photograph Collection, 1845-2005, c. 1950.