Is there a graveyard for old gravestones? Some break, weather into illegibility, or, like the stone of my grandmother, Mary “Matie” Burse, are replaced. (She died of “dropsy” at 40.
When my grandfather died more than 30 years later, my family installed a double headstone. Who knows what happened to her first marker, a simple granite slab? Perhaps it was upcycled, like the gravestones discovered under the Steele House in Olympia, the subject of my story.
I am intrigued by the Steele House, 1010 Franklin St. SE, a project of Chris and Denise Keegan, which is one of the 2024 awardees of the Gerry L. Alexander Heritage Award presented by the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum (OHS-BHM).
This award recognizes individuals, organizations, companies and projects that have made a significant contribution to Olympia history. The Keegans have been recognized by OHS-BHM as good stewards of historic property.
The 1869 Steele House was built in one of the best areas in Olympia at that time, and first occupied in 1870 by the family of Dr. Alden Hatch Steele (1823-1902), a territorial physician.
Few structures of any kind remain in Puget Sound from that era. It is believed to be the second oldest (still standing) structure in the city.
The Keegans stepped forward with their own time and money to purchase the property when all other options for the house ran out. Without their intervention, the house would have been demolished.
They committed to do the "right" thing for the building by rehabbing, according to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation even though it took additional time and money to do so.
They also consulted with the historic architect at the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. Once the house was saved from demolition and with significant restoration complete, they applied for the house to be added to the National Historic Register (1992). The house is significant both architecturally and socially. I was delighted to be included on a recent tour.
Dr. Steele came from his native New York to the Oregon country in 1849 and served as post surgeon at Fort Dalles, Fort Stevens and Fort Steilacoom. He was an arbiter of Indian disputes and doctor for the Nisqually and Chehalis Indian Reservations.
He earned a reputation as one of the most capable and progressive physicians in the Pacific Northwest. He pioneered chloroform usage in surgery in the Northwest.
Active in politics, business and religious affairs, he was a Regent of the Territorial University, a director of the First National Bank of Olympia, and an organizer of the first Episcopalian diocese in the Northwest, which is the Diocese of Olympia and now headquartered in Seattle.
He was an outstanding contributor, both in civic and medical endeavors, and considered an asset to early Olympia.
If you visit the house, you will see that it is incongruously perched 12 feet above street level. Why? Over the years a bluff “grew” as the road was lowered more and more with a series of city grading projects.
The soil graded from the street helped fill in the Olympia-area tidelands, establishing a deep-water port, and creating almost 30 blocks of the current downtown, ending at the Port of Olympia. In all, more than 2 million cubic yards of soil, organic material and debris were utilized.
The house is a rare example of the Vernacular Italianate Style with long narrow windows, interior transom windows, exterior 8-foot windows, the original shutters (currently in storage), original interior doors and hardware, Douglas fir flooring, hipped roof, and paired posts on the porch, bay windows, with much cedar in the building.
Twelve-foot ceilings lowered 2 feet by a prior owner, were restored by the Keegans. The original house, excluding the two additions, is 36 feet by 36 feet and a rare double-box construction.
The exterior walls are formed from two layers of cedar planks, 12 inches in width and 1 1/4 inch thick without studs. Under the house, you can still see the circular cut of the saw blades.
A building resident commented that earthquakes have been barely felt and that the house is the safest building in Olympia. In the crawl space, you will see that the floor joists were notched into the sills without a single nail. In other parts of the house, you will find square nails.
Chris and Denise have worked to make repairs and improvements needed for modern safety, insurance and coding requirements to ensure safe but reasonably-priced housing and restore whatever they can of the original historic house.
Many of us history buffs would love to have a historic house of this magnitude, but the Keegans have the skills and energy to make a restoration happen.
Chris Keegan is a civil engineer by profession, doing some work himself and supervising professionals they hire. They initially purchased the house with the Harringtons as partners, but eventually bought them out.
Much of the foundation has been replaced, cellar stairs taken out as required, nonhistoric remodeling extracted, the apartments renovated, too many items to list. They will soon replace the sewer system.
The tombstones were an underground shock for the owners, Chris and Denise. They were examining the crawl space (the highest crawl space I have ever been in) in planning restoration, and were startled by the tombstones -- fearing dead bodies.
It was a relief for them to discover that the stones belonged to relatives, the bodies were still in the cemetery, and the older stones were simply being re-used as a construction material.
In addition to gravestones, they found, inside a wall, school papers of 1908-10, from a girl named Helen. Does this historical name and house address fit with anyone you know of?
Though this was the home of the Steeles for many years, in the 20th century the house served as a boarding house and was eventually converted into apartments.
Chris and Denise own and rent out a number of properties in town, but the Steele House, with its six apartments, is special to them.
Here, “out west,” a house of this age is a treasure and they have preserved needed affordable housing units, plus they are committed to maintain the building to a high standard while keeping rents affordable for their tenants.
They are very conscious of safety and have never needed to make an insurance claim. From our tour, I felt they have maintained a positive rapport with the tenants, creating a good community. It is said to be the best affordable housing in the county.
Greg Griffith, board member of the OHS-BHM said, “The Keegans continue to advocate and work to protect the building for the future.”
Watch for an upcoming announcement about the OHS-BHM award ceremony, slated for Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025 at St. Johns Episcopal Church in Olympia.
Shirley Stirling, of Lacey, writes about good things people in Thurston County are doing. If you'd like to nominate someone to be profiled, contact her at shirley@theJOLTnews.com or comment below.
Editors note: the story was updated to fix the error in the address 1-16-2025
2 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
RondaLarsonKramer
Denise and Chris, thank you for all you've done! What a treasure to the community that house is.
Saturday, January 11 Report this
Shirley - what a fantastic story! Unbelievable work being done by the Keegan's to maintain the history of Olympia.
Saturday, January 11 Report this