0304, 2023

Exploring Maritime Washington

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS | More

I am proud to announce the publication of my new book, Exploring Maritime Washington—a History and Guide. Each of the places covered in its pages has a connection to Washington’s maritime history, whether a popular tourist destination or a hidden gem known only to longtime locals. Exploring Maritime Washington provides visitors with a fun and easy way to enjoy each community while learning about Washington’s nautical history. By visiting and

0509, 2022

Virginia V and the Mosquito Fleet

Washington Our Home
September 5, 2022
History, Maritime, Podcast, Puget Sound, Western Washington
0
308

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS | More

Before there were roads around the Puget Sound region, there were rivers. Before the stagecoaches, there were Salish canoes. And before the planes, the trains, and the automobiles…there was the water, and the ships that traveled upon it. In the earliest days of human habitation in what is now Washington State, the fastest way to get from place to place around the Salish Sea was by paddling a canoe, whether

0606, 2022

The Washington Museum Association

Washington Our Home
June 6, 2022
Events, History, Podcast, Western Washington
0
1007

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS | More

There are hundreds of different museums scattered far and wide across Washington state. Many of them are focused on the history of their particular city, county, or region. Others feature arguably some of the most interesting, thought-provoking, and unique art and sculpture in the world. And a few have captured more of a niche area, showcasing things like robots, quilts, and puppets. But the thing that binds these varied institutions

2703, 2021

Then and Now: The Olympia Brewery Fountain

Washington Our Home
March 27, 2021
History, Then and Now, Western Washington
0
1361

Near a very busy intersection in the Olympia-Tumwater area sits the base of what was once an oft-photographed icon of a bygone era in local history. Located at the site of the old Olympia Brewing Company headquarters is the base of a fountain that once greeted not only visitors coming in from Interstate 5 and Highway 101, but employees of the massive brewery complex who would pass the fountain on

0401, 2021

Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS | More

Two weeks after Valentine’s Day, 2001, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the south sound region of Washington state near where the Nisqually River empties into Puget Sound. It was nearly 11 a.m. on a Wednesday, and the state legislature was in full swing. The violent tremors lasted nearly a minute, rocking the state capital of Olympia and the nearby cities of Lacey, Tumwater, Nisqually, DuPont, and Shelton. The shocks registered

0712, 2020

Who was Mother Joseph?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS | More

Born Esther Pariseau in 1823, the third of 12 children, in a farmhouse three miles from Saint-Martin, Laval, Quebec, this Canadian Religious Sister grew up to lead members of her congregation to the Pacific Northwestern United States where they established a network of schools and healthcare facilities to serve the American settlers in that new and remote part of the country. She was the first female architect in British Columbia,

0211, 2020

The Whitman Massacre

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS | More

Marcus and Narcissa Whitman were Christian missionaries who left their homes in upstate New York and traveled with another missionary couple, Henry and Eliza Spalding, to what was then called Oregon Country in 1836. Their mission? To “Christianize” Indians. In fact, Oregon wasn’t even a territory yet. The United States government didn’t have any programs in Oregon Country, which at the time consisted of the present-day states of Washington, Oregon,

0709, 2020

The Life of Senator Slade Gorton

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS | More

Slade Gorton was an esteemed intellectual, an accomplished attorney, a shrewd political opponent, an Air Force colonel, a baseball nut…and one of the greatest public servants Washington State has ever known. After 92 years of working on behalf of others, the nonagenarian solon died last month, on August 19th. If you’ve never heard of Slade Gorton, you’ll get a great idea of who the man was by reading his obituary

1704, 2019

The man with the golden gun

Washington Our Home
April 17, 2019
History, Legislature, Western Washington
0
1712

In 1989, one of the most brazen heists in Washington history occurred at the height of the state centennial celebration. Worse yet, it happened right under the nose of then-Secretary of State Ralph Munro. The thief – or thieves – simply walked into his office, and walked out with a first-issue, limited edition, gold-plated, commemorative .44 Magnum revolver made by Ruger especially for the centennial. And it wouldn’t be seen

0104, 2019

Discovering the Creatures of the Northwest Trek Trails

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS | More

In the 1930’s, a husband and wife team of conservationists purchased over 400 acres of desolate, charred land in south Pierce County, Washington. Fast forward 80 years (and factor in the meticulous planning, fastidious nurturing, generous donating, and fortuitous timing), and today, people of all ages can visit Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. In this episode, your fearless field guide Erich Ebel takes you on a tour of the park that’s