Newspaper has roots going back 115 years

• Published January 12, 2006 Modified October 19, 2006

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01/12/2006 – Why is the news paper called The Olympian? -- Melody, no city listed

Mike Oakland, Opinion Editor:
Olympia has a rich newspaper history that dates to Sept. 11, 1852 when James F. Wiley and T.F. McElroy, early pioneers, founded The Columbian newspaper. That was just two years after Olympia's founder, Edmund Sylvester, platted the city. Records show that in the late 1800s there were at least 68 different newspapers serving the Olympia area. Most lasted less than two years. Today's Olympian traces its roots to the founding of The Morning Olympian on March 15, 1891 by a group of printers. Mapping an exact linage is difficult, but I have an Aug. 14, 1895 Daily Olympian hanging on my office wall that features a story on the death of Indian Chief Leschi and the lynching of a father and son in Ellensburg. Interestingly, about a quarter of the front page is taken up with advertising, and there were, of course, no photographs.

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