Digital Archives

When you visit Puget Sound or one of the many lakes in Washington, especially during the gorgeous summer months here, you’re bound to see someone sailing.

It isn’t every day that a building is named after one of your parents. In the case of Peter and Beth Dolliver, the James M. Dolliver Building in Olympia is named after their father, who was an advisor and chief of staff for Gov. Dan Evans for 12 years and later a State Supreme Court Justice for nearly a quarter century, including two years as Chief Justice.

Like many “Batman” fans, we were saddened to hear of last week’s passing of Adam West. West, who played Batman on the 1960s TV series, died in Los Angeles on June 9 following a brief battle with leukemia.

When you ask the historical significance of June 6, most people think of the anniversary of D-Day.

Nowadays, when we look at a highway map of Washington, we see a complex web of gold, red and black lines crisscrossing the state. But it wasn’t always this way. In the early 1900s, highways were a rarity in the Evergreen State. Probably because cars and trucks were rarities as well, considering that the automobile had just been invented. This 1909 map displays Washington’s located and proposed highways, railroads (the dominant form of transportation then) and county seats.

Five Washington students recently showed they might have the stuff to be the next Ken Burns. The Washington State Historical Society coordinates Washington History Day, which features an annual contest for students in grades 6-12 throughout the state.

As the electronics records archivist for the Washington State Digital Archives, Debbie Bahn plays a key role at the first digital archives in the U.S. Bahn now can claim she also is part of a team of contributors that earned a national archives award. The Society of American Archivists recently announced that Philip C.

If you mention “May 18, 1980” to an older Washingtonian, you’ll likely get a knowing response: It’s the day Mount St. Helens erupted. It was on a sunny morning 37 years ago today that the eruption blew off the top 1,300 feet from its once cone-like summit, killing 57 people and thousands of animals, and destroying or flattening thousands of acres of timber.

We know we don’t have to tell Washington’s fishing community, but Saturday marks the opening weekend of trout fishing in many lowland lakes. To help celebrate the big opening, and to help get folks in the mood to grab their poles and tackle boxes, we’re sharing a few of the classic fishing photos found in the State Digital Archives website. The top photo shows a man in waders fishing in an unidentifi

Seeing trees and flowers in bloom is one of the highlights of spring. Nowhere is that more evident than Central Washington’s fruit orchards, where blossoming apple, cherry and pear trees add a dash of pretty color to the landscape this time of year.