Insurance Building (Olympia, Washington)

Last updated

Insurance Building
Washington State Capitol in Fall (2008) 06.JPG
Front of the Insurance Building (left) in 2008
USA Washington location map.svg
Red pog.svg
General information
Architectural style American Neoclassicism
Town or city Olympia, Washington
CountryUnited States of America
Coordinates 47°02′09″N122°54′20″W / 47.0358°N 122.9055°W / 47.0358; -122.9055 Coordinates: 47°02′09″N122°54′20″W / 47.0358°N 122.9055°W / 47.0358; -122.9055
Construction started1920
Completed1921
Technical details
Floor count4
Design and construction
ArchitectWalter R. Wilder and Harry K. White

The Insurance Building is a government building in Olympia, Washington that houses the office of the Insurance Commissioner of Washington.

Contents

History

The Insurance Building, along with other government buildings on the Washington state capitol campus, was designed by the New York architectural team of Walter Wilder and Harry White. [1] It was the second facility built on the new capital campus, following completion of the Temple of Justice, and was constructed from Wilkeson stone, a durable sandstone mined from quarries in Pierce County, Washington.

The cornerstone of the Insurance Building was laid in 1920. Insurance Building cornerstone.jpg
The cornerstone of the Insurance Building was laid in 1920.

The cornerstone of the building was laid on April 30, 1920 in a Masonic ceremony overseen by Thomas Skaggs, a Masonic grand master and chairman of the state's Board of Control, and was preceded by a ceremonial processional formed by the Knights Templar of Tacoma and accompanied by the band of the Affifi Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. A dedication address was delivered by Governor Louis Hart. [2] [3] It was completed the following year with a final reported cost, including furnishings, of $1,087,497.97. [4]

During the 1949 Olympia earthquake, the Insurance Building was one of the two most heavily damaged structures in Olympia. [5] Fifty years later, after the adjacent Legislative Building was damaged during the Nisqually earthquake, the office of the Governor of Washington was temporarily relocated to the Insurance Building. [6]

Design

The facility is a rectangular structure oriented with the longer axis running north and south. To the north of the building is the "Winged Victory Monument," the state's memorial to World War I veterans, designed by Alanzo Victor Lewis and installed in 1938. The north and south ends of the building have colonnades supporting an unembellished frieze and pediment, while the east and west sides of the structure consist of rows of windows. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Washington Monument Obelisk in Washington, D.C.

The Washington Monument is an obelisk within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the first President of the United States (1789–1797). Located almost due east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, the monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world's tallest predominantly stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing 554 feet 7 1132 inches (169.046 m) tall according to the U.S. National Geodetic Survey or 555 feet 5 18 inches (169.294 m) tall according to the National Park Service. It is the tallest monumental column in the world if all are measured above their pedestrian entrances. Overtaking the Cologne Cathedral, it was the tallest structure in the world between 1884 and 1889, after which it was overtaken by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Evergreen State College public liberal arts college in Washington State

The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts and sciences college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study toward a degree or follow a pre-determined path of study. Full-time students can enroll in interdisciplinary academic programs, in addition to stand-alone classes. Programs typically offer students the opportunity to study several disciplines in a coordinated manner. Faculty write substantive narrative evaluations of students' work in place of issuing grades.

2001 Nisqually earthquake

The 2001 Nisqually earthquake occurred at 10:54:32 local time on February 28, 2001 and lasted nearly a minute. The intraslab earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The epicenter was in the southern Puget Sound, northeast of Olympia, but the shock was felt in Oregon, Canada, eastern Washington, and Idaho. This was the most recent of several large earthquakes that occurred in the Puget Sound region over a 52-year period and caused property damage valued at $1–4 billion. One person died of a heart attack and several hundred were injured.

Texas State Capitol Seat of government of Texas

The Texas State Capitol is the capitol building and seat of government of the American state of Texas. Located in downtown Austin, Texas, the structure houses the offices and chambers of the Texas Legislature and of the Governor of Texas. Designed in 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, it was constructed from 1882 to 1888 under the direction of civil engineer Reuben Lindsay Walker. A $75 million underground extension was completed in 1993. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

Washington State Capitol United States historic place

The Washington State Capitol or Legislative Building in Olympia is the home of the government of the state of Washington. It contains chambers for the Washington State Legislature and offices for the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and treasurer and is part of a campus consisting of several buildings. Buildings for the Washington Supreme Court, executive agencies and the Washington Governor's Mansion are part of the capitol campus.

Washington Monument (Baltimore)

The Washington Monument is the centerpiece of intersecting Mount Vernon Place and Washington Place, an urban square in the Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood north of downtown Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first major monument begun to honor George Washington (1732–1799).

Utah State Capitol

The Utah State Capitol is the house of government for the U.S. state of Utah. The building houses the chambers and offices of the Utah State Legislature, the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, the State Auditor and their staffs. The capitol is the main building of the Utah State Capitol Complex, which is located on Capitol Hill, overlooking downtown Salt Lake City.

North Dakota State Capitol House of government for the state of North Dakota

The North Dakota State Capitol is the house of government of the U.S. state of North Dakota. The capitol, a 21-story Art Deco tower, is located in Bismarck at 600 East Boulevard Avenue, and is the tallest habitable building in the state. On a 160-acre (0.6 km2) campus that also houses many other government buildings, the capitol building and the surrounding office buildings house the state's legislative and judicial branches, as well as many government agencies.

Capitol Lake

Capitol Lake is a 3 kilometer long, 260-acre (1.1 km2) artificial lake at the mouth of Deschutes River in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. The Olympia Brewery sits on Capitol Lake in Tumwater, just downstream from where the Tumwater Falls meet the artificial lake. The Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES) manages the lake, as part of The Washington State Capitol Campus.

House of the Temple

The House of the Temple is a Masonic temple in Washington, D.C., United States that serves as the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A.

Puyallup High School Public secondary school in Puyallup, Washington , United States

Puyallup High School is a high school in the Puyallup School District in Pierce County, Washington state, commonly referred to as PHS.

Detroit Masonic Temple

The Detroit Masonic Temple is the world's largest Masonic Temple. Located in the Cass Corridor of Detroit, Michigan, at 500 Temple Street, the building serves as a home to various masonic organizations including the York Rite Sovereign College of North America. The building contains a variety of public spaces including three theaters, three ballrooms and banquet halls, and a 160 by 100 feet clear-span drill hall.

Washington Governors Mansion

The Washington Governor's Mansion is the official residence of the governor of Washington. The Georgian-style mansion is located on the grounds of the State Capitol campus in the capital city Olympia. It is on the crest of Capitol Point, with a view of mountains, Capitol Lake, and the city.

1949 Olympia earthquake Earthquake in Washington state

The 1949 Olympia earthquake occurred on April 13 at 11:55:44 local time with a magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VIII (Severe). The earthquake was triggered more than 50 kilometres (31 mi) deep. The shock was located in the area between Olympia and Tacoma, and was felt throughout the state, as well as parts of Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana. It is the largest recorded earthquake to occur in the Puget Sound region of Washington.

1965 Puget Sound earthquake

The 1965 Puget Sound earthquake occurred at 08:28 AM PDT on April 29 within the Puget Sound region of Washington state. It had a magnitude of 6.7 on the moment magnitude scale and a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It caused the deaths of seven people and about $12.5–28 million in damage. There were no recorded aftershocks.

Temple of Justice (Washington) Government building in Olympia, Washington, United States

The Temple of Justice is a government building in Olympia, Washington, where sessions of the Washington Supreme Court are convened. It also houses the state's official law library, and formerly housed the office of the Attorney-General of Washington.

United States Capitol cornerstone laying

The United States Capitol cornerstone laying was the ceremonial placement of the cornerstone of the United States Capitol on September 18, 1793. The cornerstone was laid by president of the United States George Washington, assisted by the Grand Master of Maryland Joseph Clark, in a Masonic ritual.

Joel M. Pritchard Building

The Joel M. Pritchard Building at the Washington State Capitol campus in Olympia was built in 1957–1958 to house the Washington State Library, which had outgrown its previous location in the basement of the Washington Supreme Court's Temple of Justice. The building's architect, Paul Thiry who also designed the Century 21 Exposition complex in Seattle, used Modern design incorporating the Wilkeson sandstone quarried a few tens of miles away and used in the state capitol and other buildings. It was the last monumental building added to the capitol campus and one of the few departures from the Olmsted Brothers' 1928 campus plan. It was described as "among the most important regional archetypes of mid-century architectural design and thought...a textbook on how Washingtonians looked at the future in the 1950s". It was named for Joel M. Pritchard, a U.S. Congressman from Washington and the state's Lieutenant Governor. Thiry won the American Institute of Architects/American Library Association Library Building Award for the design, the first such award to be presented. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

The Washington State Library is a government agency that operates public libraries in Washington state's prisons and mental hospitals, and maintains collections related to the state government. Based in Tumwater, it is a service of the Washington Secretary of State and was founded in 1853 as the Washington Territorial Library. The library has a collection of 2.25 million physical items and other online resources available to residents of the state.

<i>Winged Victory</i> (Lewis)

Winged Victory is a World War I memorial in the U.S. state of Washington, which consists of four figures of uniformed persons atop a granite pedestal eclipsed by a fifth figure depicting the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

References

  1. Pierce, Kingston (2003). "Olympia Capitol -- A History of the Building". historylink.org. HistoryInk. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  2. "Insurance building cornerstone ceremony, Washington State Capitol complex Insurance Building construction, Olympia, April 30, 1920". University of Washington Libraries (Digital Collections). University of Washington. 29 April 1920. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  3. "Mason to Lay Stone April 30". Spokesman-Review . Spokane, Washington. 29 April 1920. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  4. The Washington State Capitol Campus. Washington state Department of Commerce and Economic Development, Travel Document Division. 1972.
  5. Yeates, Robert. "Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest". oregonstate.edu/. Oregon State University . Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  6. "State, feds agree on $5.1M in repairs to Olympia Capitol building". djcoregon.com. DJCOregon. 2002. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  7. "Winged Victory Monument". leg.wa.gov. State of Washington. Retrieved 19 September 2014.