Harbor House Interpretive Panels

Two new interpretive panels at Harbor House on Percival Landing reference Olympia history. Produced by Olympia Arts + Heritage Alliance (AHA) working with the City of Olympia, Squaxin Island Tribe and other partners, the panels are located at the east end of the building at 217 Thurston Ave NW.

"Indigenous Culture and Economy on the South Salish Sea" showcases commerce at what is now Percival Landing. During the steamboat era Squaxin Island Tribal members brought basketry and shellfish to sell on Olympia's waterfront.  

A second interpretive panel provides information about Charles Mitchell, a thirteen year old enslaved boy who escaped to freedom in Victoria, British Columbia. He departed from Percival Dock on a steamer in 1860—part of a maritime Underground Railroad.  The panel is based on a biographical book, Free Boy, by Seattle historians Dr. Lorraine McConaghy and Judy Bentley.

AHA is planning future programming around both of these panels. For more information:  olympiawa.gov; squaxinisland.org and blackpast.org.