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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Us99 Olympia 1940 And Today


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It being a quiet Sunday afternoon, I went to downtown Olympia on old US99 for a then and now, or as Steve_Colby calls them , a Deja View . This is 4th street, which now is one way east bound, but in the days when it was US99 and the main highway between Southern California and Canada, it was two way here.

 

The buildings are unmistakable! [A] shows the US99 shield on the lamp post. The store front is unchanged, down to the hanging awning over the sidewalk. The shinny tile is still part of the store front at [C], and The Spar [D] is still in business today and sporting its familiar sign. Inside it is only a little changed.

 

The biggest change is the cornice on the corner building at []). It fell off in the earthquake of 1949. There is no mistaking the building at [F]. As we attempt to replicate the Main Street of the past we plant tress....which hide the buildings, and which seldom, to never, existed on real main streets.

 

I'm dating the photo (from my collection) to 1940 as there is no car in the photo later than 1940, and there are no men in uniform in the photo.

 

If you ever have occasion to wonder what was on Main Street in 1940, and what by and large is rare or doesn't exist anymore, take a look at the two enlargements. [G] the downtown hardware store selling tackle, the drugstore featuring Kodaks, the [H] public bath, the downtown [J] stationers, the [K] shoe repair shop, and the [L] Cigar Store. And sadly the [M] Olympia beer, Its the water...no more. :(

 

ARDTOly1940.jpg

 

ARDTOly2010.jpg

 

ARDTOlyDrug.jpg

 

ARDTOlyShoe.jpg

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Really? "Oly" beer is no more? I well remember the "It's the Water" radio/TV ads way down here in southern AZ back in the 60s/70s (I was too young to drink the stuff back then, but we all knew the ads!). If memory serves, the ads always said "Olympia brewing company, Tumwater , Washington".

You mean it's gone to Falstaff/Burgermeister/Schlitz/Hamm's/probably-too-many-other-defunct-brands-to-name beer heaven?

Guess I assumed it was still around, albeit on a regional basis.

Edited by mga707
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MGA707,

 

I don't remember when the Olympia brand disappeared, but the brewery stands dark and moldering beside the waterfalls featured in its logo, paint peeling off its windows The warehouses that stored the golden brew and the railroad tracks that carried the cars filled with stubbies are quiet and empty. The small taverns and cafes near the brewery that served the workers and their friends are closing down, and old men give talks at the historical society about what it used to be like to work there.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road

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Dave, these are great deja views. It is exciting to see this block still essentially intact. Is that Vitrolite on the second building from the right? jim

 

Jim,

 

The term Vitrolite is new to me, and it sounds like I need to know what it is. Here is an enlargement of that building. Can you determine whether it is Vitrolite from the photo?

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

ARJim.jpg

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Dave,

Vitrolite is glass tile. The tiles used for building exteriors were usually 16" x 16" and about 3/8" thick. For more info, go to the Vitrolite Specialist.

 

Cumberland still has a fair amount of Vitrolite clad buildings downtown.

 

BTW... The bathroom in my house, circa 1930, is tiled in Seafoam Green Vitrolite and was one of the features that attracted us to the house.

The negative side of Vitrolite is that it is a bear to drill or cut, making bathroom upgrades a challenge. (Like hanging a towel bar...)

 

~ Steve

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As I looked at Dave's original photo, the early facade on building "E" reminded me of a building in Hagerstown, MD. The building had a pre-made cast-iron parapet. One of these days I'll go back and photograph it.

 

~ Steve

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Nice match up on the then & now shot and nice to see the block pretty much intact. In addition, I learned, in a very shallow way, about Vitrolite. Although I've seen the stuff, I don't recall hearing the name before.

 

Regarding Olympia Beer, Wikipedia says that the brewery shut down in 2003 but that the brand is still made by SABMiller in Irwindale, CA. No word on whether they've changed their slogan or are running tankers down from Tumwater.

 

Dave, I don't believe that anyone's yet mentioned that the brackets intended to identify the building that lost its cornice to the 1949 earthquake are quite empty. I'm guessing that the letter fell off in the webquake of 2010.

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