Built in 1914 on the site of the burned-out Olympia Hotel, this dignified sandstone building served for almost 50 years as Olympia's U.S. Post Office. In the days when long-distance telephone calls were for deaths and emergencies only, the post office was the communications hub of every American town. It was also a major banking center, selling federal savings certificates and postal money orders in an era when personal bank accounts were not yet widely used.

The early 20th century brought a new style to downtown business districts as Victorian fussiness gave way to architecture inspired by buildings of ancient Greece and Rome. Institutional buildings - especially banks and government offices - made lavish use of Neoclassical details. The Old Post Office has all the solemn weight of an ancient Greek temple, with triangular doorway pediments, hand-carved medallions and scrollwork and a row of Corinthian columns towering two-stories tall.

When the post office moved to new quarters in 1964, other federal offices continued to occupy the building until the 1990s. Many interior features were altered or destroyed as the space was carved up to accommodate numerous agencies. Today the Old Post Office is owned by the State of Washington, which has restored a great deal of the structure's original character. Rededicated in 2000 as the James M. Dolliver Building, it now houses a branch of the Office of the Secretary of State.

The Old Post Office is located on the west side of Capitol Way at Eighth Avenue SW. It is listed on both the National and State Registers of Historic Places, as well as on the Olympia Heritage Register. The building is open to the public.

Old U.S. Post Office. Olympia Heritage Commission photo.

Old Federal Building. Photograph from Olympia Heritage Commission Collection.