Old Thurston County Court House, Washington Photo

A close up picture taken of the Old Thurston County Court House building located in the state capitol of Washington State, Olympia. Thurston County built this sober gray courthouse in 1930, directly across the street from the state's new Capitol Campus. The plain, smooth face of Wohleb's courthouse boasts little decoration beyond a few bands of low-relief carving and four imperious eagles perched above the front doors. Its stepped-back upper floor, with smaller windows, was once the county jail. For almost half a century this courthouse was the focus of county government. It was where County Commissioners tended to business, where votes were tallied on election night and where couples came for their marriage license. When Thurston County outgrew this space and moved to a larger courthouse complex in 1977, the old gray sandstone building was slated for demolition. It was saved through a groundswell of public support, but sat vacant for more than a decade before it was finally restored and reopened as mixed-use office space. The south courtroom now houses the law library of the State Attorney General's Office. The building is open to the public.