Historic Register Properties

Bowker House

Address: 915 Bowker St SE
Built: c. 1893
Added to Register: 1991

George and Lucinda Hayes Bowker were from Machias, Maine. George Bowker came to the Northwest around Cape Horn in the 1860s. He is listed in census records as a laborer in Mason County in 1880. The Bowkers married in 1883 and were among the first to purchase land when Adams Acres was platted in 1890. The Bowkers bought lots 3 and 16 on August 5, 1890 for $200 and by 1893 had already built a home, one of the first in the area. 

George was a logger and sawyer. Lucinda served as Lacey Postmaster in 1898. The house was also home to Bowker’s son, Harold G. and his wife, Martha (Gehrke) Bowker. Harold worked as a shingle weaver at Union Mills Shingle Mill and Martha worked at the nearby mushroom farm, at the Turner Grocery (originally Foy Store) and at the Knox Hotel in Olympia. Martha was a member of the pioneer Gehrke family of Rainier. She was a charter member of the Lacey Women’s Club and Pioneer Cemetery Association. Harold died in 1964 and Martha in 1983.

The Vernacular style house has a steeply gabled roof and sits on a post and pier foundation, reflecting its age. The so-called “I House” was popular in the Midwest and is typified by being one-room deep and having the entrance on the long end. The property encompasses a large lot, indicative of the lots of the Adams Acre plat.

Gallagher-Hukee House

Address: 823 Lacey St SE
Built: c. 1895
Added to Register: 1992

Originally built at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Carpenter Road, this house had several owners. The original owners may have been William B. Chamberlin or Almeda C. Rowe. After changing hands a number of times, it was purchased by Ralph and Nellie Rowe. They farmed the area known as “Shady Grove Farm.” Cornelius and Anna Gallagher owned the house from 1908 to 1950. Cornelius was a farmer in 1920 and by 1930 he was a grader at a logging camp.

After ownership by Harold and Millie Crass, the property was sold in 1959 to Abner and Hazel Hukee, where Hazel’s flower garden became well known. Through a community effort, the house was moved next to the Lacey Museum in 1985. The property for the Gallagher House was provided by Jerry Stroh. A center dormer and broad eaves shelter the front porch.

Ruddell Pioneer Cemetery

Address: Northeast corner of Ruddell and Mullen Roads
Built: 1852
Added to Register: 1992

Other Registers: Washington Heritage Register, National Register of Historic Places

The Ruddell Pioneer Cemetery was established in 1852 by the Ruddell and Hicks families. The unexpected death of Eliza Jane (Leedom) Hicks of tuberculosis spurred the newly-formed community to set aside land for her burial. Stephen D. Ruddell, an early settler and legislator who petitioned for Washington to become a separate territory, donated the land for the cemetery. In 1917, the cemetery was rededicated and a new arched gateway and sign was installed. The Ruddell Pioneer Cemetery Association, incorporated in 1914, limited burials to members of the Association and pioneers of Thurston County and their descendants.

Pioneers buried in the cemetery include Stephen D. Ruddell, Urban East Hicks, India Ann Hicks, Winifred Ruddell, Gwin Gallatin Hicks, Mary Himes, and L.C. and Ellen Huntamer.

Groom-Turner House

Address: 901 Ulery St SE
Built: 1929
Added to Register: 1996

Stanley and Zetta (Blankenship) Groom built this Craftsman style house in 1929. Stanley was a yard foreman at the nearby Union Mills and also worked for Springer Mills.

It was also the home of Henry and Margaret Turner from 1948 to 1959. Turner leased the Foy store beginning in 1939 and purchased it in 1944. Turner’s Cash Market, a Red and White Food Store franchise, also had a Maxwell Service Station, post office and first aid station. The Turners platted the Turner Plat in 1955 and in honor of Margaret Turner, named Margaret Street (now 6th Avenue) after her. Active in the community, Henry helped establish the Lacey Fire Department and for a time one of the first official department phones was on the front porch of this house. He was also active in the founding of the Lacey School Club, the Lacey Lions and North Thurston School District. Henry died in 1977 and Margaret in 1991.

This house is an excellent example of the style with its exposed rafter ends, drop cedar board siding and wide, shed-roof dormer.

Jacob Smith House

Address: 4500 Intelco Loop SE
Built: 1859
Added to Register: 1998 (2025)

Other Registers: Washington Heritage Register

The Jacob Smith House, built in 1859, is the oldest home in Lacey and one of the oldest residence in Thurston County. Jacob and Priscilla (Fearnley) Smith pioneered to the northwest from Indiana on the Oregon Trail. After initially settling on Whidbey Island, in 1858 they obtained a 640-acre donation land claim, raising seven children, wheat and sheep. One of their great-grandchildren became famous crooner Bing Crosby. In 1955, the property was sold to Robert Wohleb, son of the famous architect Joseph Wohleb. For many years, the Wohlebs used the property for their country retreat.

The house is fashioned in the Greek Revival style with its signature square water tower and is one of the few of this style remaining in Thurston County. The house was large for the era and was built from large cedar slabs.

The house and water tower were renovated in 1997 and became a private rental venue. The City of Lacey purchased the property in 2002.

Huntamer House

Address: 5800 Huntamer Lane
Built: 1940
Added to Register: 1999

Built by L. C. and Mary Ellen Huntamer, this Vernacular style house was originally located at 4624 Lacey Boulevard and was moved to its current location in 1997. The Huntamers came to Lacey from South Dakota in 1910 and were active community members. They purchased 40 acres from the Robbins family near Lacey Boulevard, which was known as Huntamer Street for a time. The family raised a large family and farmed at the original house site. L. C. became Thurston County Sheriff and Mary Ellen was active in the Lacey school. L. C. owned a water system that eventually became the main water supply for the City of Lacey. Said to have been built with lumber from Union Mills Lumber Company which Huntamer dismantled, the house has detailing such as the broad shed roof dormer extending on the front roofline.

Lacey Women’s Club

Address: 827 Lacey St. SE
Built: 1937
Added to Register: 2000

In 1926 several Lacey women decided to separate from the Elephant’s Club, a Lacey men’s service organization, calling themselves the “Home Demonstration Club.” At a January 29, 1930 meeting in the Foy Store, they formally adopted a set of by-laws and chose the name, “Lacey Women’s Club.” The first club trustees were Clara Kemper, Elizabeth Trubshaw, Jessie Huggins, Rita Wanschers, Grace Aufang, Louise Daniels, Anne Kinsella, Myrtle Hicks, Ollie Foy, Alma Watkins and Carrol Van Slyke. Dues that first year were 50 cents annually.

The women first met at the Foy Store then rented the upstairs of the fire hall for their meetings. Through fundraising with card parties, socials and picnics, members raised enough money to purchase land in 1931 for $450.00, located for them by the Elephant’s Club. H. R. Hoffman, a local carpenter, built the building for $958.07 and it was finished in 1937. By 1940, they had paid for the building in full.  The Elephant’s Club disbanded in 1960 and gave their remaining funds to the Lacey Women’s Club.

The Lacey Women’s Club has helped many groups including the Lacey Children’s Farm Home with canned goods, knitting items, and other help. The women focused their attention in the 1960s and 1970s on the Fircrest School. They have provided scholarships and made quilts for several organizations. They provide funds for Safeplace, the Salvation Army and adopt families to help through North Thurston schools. In 1979, at the request of then Mayor Karen Fraser, they donated the property for the Lacey Historical Museum. The club continues to be active in the Lacey community. 

The small, one story building which was enlarged in the 1960s, has a vernacular design with some Craftsman details. The building is clad in wood shingles and has original wood sash windows.  

Russell House (Lacey City Hall)

Address: 829 Lacey St. SE
Built: 1928
Added to Register: 2001

This house is closely associated with the history of Lacey in different eras. Fred and Minnie Russell built it on Pacific Avenue in 1928. The Russells were in Lacey by 1910 and operated a cigar, confectionery and billiards store nearby. They later opened a service station to take advantage of the location near Pacific Highway. Designed by Minnie Russell and constructed by I. H. Olmstead, the Craftsman style house was originally clad in stucco and featured all local materials including lumber from Springer Mill in Olympia.

By 1935, E. J. Johnson owned the house. In the 1940s it was owned by Clara Rohde. State Fire Marshall Rex Jordan and his wife, Martha, owned the house in the 1950s.

As the population grew after World War II, the Lacey Volunteer Fire Department – which started in 1948 – purchased the house in 1953 for its headquarters. After Lacey incorporated as a city in 1966, it became the first City Hall, housing the fire department, police department and city offices all on different floors. When Lacey built a new city hall on College Street in 1979, the community organized to preserve it as a museum. Organizers moved the house to a site donated by the Lacey Women’s Club near their clubhouse in 1979 and it was dedicated as the Lacey Historical Museum in 1981. The building features exhibits about Lacey history and has a vast collection of objects, photographs and documents related to area history.

Taylor House

Address: 2508 Gwinn Lane SE
Built: c. 1936
Added to Register: 2005

This Tudor style house was built in about 1936 by Eugene B. and Marvelle S. (Perkins) Taylor, who had purchased the property in 1922. Eugene was associated with the Oyster Bay Oyster Company for many years until he sold his oyster interests to the J. J. Brenner Oyster Company in the early 1920s. In 1922 he purchased Ineda Beach, a popular resort on Hicks Lake, from Harry Sauers.

The Tudor architectural style was popular in the 1930s, when Lacey’s lakes were a thriving resort destination. At the time, there were seven resorts on Hicks Lake. Ineda Beach featured water slides, diving board, cottages, and boats.

The house is a 1 1/2 story, asymmetric structure with a steep, pitched roof. It has a large chimney with an expanding base on the waterfront facade and double-hung sash windows.

Homann House

Address: 1012 Homann Dr SE
Built: 1940
Added to Register: 2011

Albert G. Homann was instrumental to the formation of the City of Lacey.  A general contractor, Al came to the area in 1940 to build the Rockway-Leland Building at State Avenue and Washington Street in Olympia.  He purchased 11 acres of property in what would become Lacey that same year and immediately began working on the house.  In 1947, Homann Construction moved to Lacey across the street from the house.

Al Homann was one of the founders of the original Lacey Volunteer Fire Department, and used a large warehouse that he constructed on his property to serve as the first headquarters. The firefighters were instrumental in getting the vote to incorporate Lacey on the ballot. When incorporation became official in 1966, Al was elected Lacey’s first mayor. The “rec-room” that he constructed just off of the main house served as a gathering space for the earliest Lacey City Council meetings.

Al and his wife, Anna, contributed to the community in other ways, too.  Al sponsored the Lacey Lions baseball team and served as manager for many years.  Anna was active in the local schools, donating uniforms to the Lacey School for cheerleading, baseball, and basketball.  Anna was active in Boy Scouts, a charter member of the Lacey Historical Society, a member of the Zonta Club, and a benefactor of the Make-A-Wish foundation.

Al raised prize polled Herefords in the late 1950s on a 160 acre parcel of land they called Al-Anna Park.  Much of this land was platted as the Homewood Addition in the late 1960s.  In 1973, Al and Anna donated 7.85 acres of this park to the City of Lacey, now called Homann Park.

Jensen House

Address: 809 Ulery St SE
Built: 1928
Added to Register: 2011

Nels C. and Sarah Jensen purchased a lot in Lacey Villas shortly after it was platted and built this front gabled home in the late 1920s and lived here until the early 1960s. Jensen drove a beer wagon in Olympia and was a pulp dryer at the Powder Company in Dupont. The property included a garage and barn and the Jensens, like their neighbors, raised a few animals and had a large garden.

Typical of the 1920s Craftsman style, the house has exposed rafter ends and decorative window mullions. Although unrecognizable today, the house that sits behind it was once the Jensen House garage.