The 1890 vote that decided Washington’s capital
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(Images courtesy of Washington State Archives)
Unlike this year, Washington voters in 1890 weren’t pondering initiatives on making it harder to raise taxes or protecting endangered species. (We couldn’t even vote on statewide initiatives back then!) One issue that statewide voters did consider on this date 125 years ago would have enormous impact on Washington: Which city should be the young state’s capital?
The three finalists were Ellensburgh (yes, there was an “H” on the end back then), North Yakima (now just plain Yakima) and Olympia, which had been the capital of Washington Territory.
Turns out that more than two-thirds of the voters back then were quite happy and satisfied with having the territorial capital become the state capital. Out of 51,407 votes cast, Olympia received 37,382, well ahead of Ellensburgh (7,757) and North Yakima (6,268).
Our State Archives has this document (below) showing how voters in the (then) 34 counties decided this issue. (Note there was a Chehalis County at the time. It’s now Grays Harbor County.) Not surprisingly, the Western Washington counties swung their support behind Olympia, and even a few E. Washington counties (Columbia, Walla Walla and Whitman) did as well.
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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