A House from the Pioneer Era

A House from the Pioneer Era. Crosby House. , The Crosby House dates back to a time when pioneer mills and factories clustered around the waterfalls at the mouth of the Deschutes River. It stands on its original site, looking much the same now as it did in the mid-1800s, although the surrounding landscape has changed considerably since then. , The house was built about 1860 on land owned by Clanrick and his wife Phebe Crosby, who had sailed to the Northwest from Maine aboard the Brig Grecian in 1849. Clanrick, the son of a New England seafaring family, arrived in Tumwater in 1851 and soon purchased the two most promising businesses in the village, a crude sawmill and a grist mill, from early settler Michael Simmons. Crosby also filed a donation land claim of 524 acres that included virtually all of the land on both sides of Tumwater Falls. , The Crosby House was apparently built for Clanrick’s nephew, Nathaniel Crosby III, and his new bride, Cordelia Jane Smith, around the time of their marriage. Nathaniel operated a general store, C. Crosby and Co., and served as the first postmaster of Tumwater. He and Cordelia lived in the Crosby House with their two young sons, Frank and Harry, until 1872. , Dr. Nathaniel Ostrander and his wife, Eliza Yantis Ostrander, bought the house from the Crosbys and moved in with six of their children. Ostrander was a “dispensing physician” with a medical practice and drugstore in Tumwater. Although the Ostranders lived here for no more than seven years, the house remained in the family until shortly after Dr. Ostrander’s death in 1902. By then the old pioneer home had been joined by a handful of neighbors and stood just a short walk away from the heart of a thriving small town. , A Blend of East Coast Styles , The Crosby House combines two building styles that were common in New England at the time that the Crosbys left Maine. Elements of the Greek Revival style include a simple rectangular shape with the gable end turned toward the street (vaguely resembling an ancient Greek temple) and the narrow panes of glass set in a band around the front door. The steeply pitched roof and elaborate scalloped trim are features of the Gothic Revival style, which took its inspiration from the medieval churches of Europe. Although neither style was still truly fashionable back East by the time this house was built, both remained popular in the West as late as the 1880s. , Preserving the Pioneer Past , In 1947, the Crosby House was acquired by Olympia Chapter #4 of the Daughters of the Pioneers, who repaired and furnished the historic home and opened it to the public. Funds to purchase the house came from a number of prominent donors, including the Schmidt brewing family, the Olympia Brewing Company, and recording and film star Bing Crosby, the famous grandson of Nathaniel Crosby III. Today the house contains a collection of 19th-century furnishings, many of which have ties to old Tumwater families, including the Crosbys and the Ostranders. , During the 1950s, construction of Interstate Highway 5 demolished the main street of Tumwater and sliced through the rear of the property surrounding the Crosby House. Another sliver of land was lost when two new on-ramps were added in 1986. Tumwater’s oldest surviving home, built in an era of sailing ships and horse-drawn wooden wagons, now literally stands at the crossroads of a freeway interchange. , In spite of the changes around it, the Crosby House has endured. Placed on the Washington State Historic Register in 1971, the house is a significant part of the National Register Tumwater Historic District, established in 1978. In 1981 the property was deeded to the City of Tumwater, although the Daughters of the Pioneers continue to have a key role in preserving this important reminder of the city’s pioneer past. , Captions , The wedding of Nathaniel Crosby III and Cordelia Jane Smith took place on August 10, 1860 at the bride's family homestead east of Tumwater. The home where they were married, known as the historic Jacob Smith House, still stands on a hilltop in Lacey looking out over Chambers Prairie. Photographs from the Daughters of the Pioneers. Chapter 114, Crosby House Collection, The porch of the Crosby House, though altered many times over the years, was originally built in a flat-roof design with a balustrade or railing a typical feature of the Gothic Revival style. Photograph courtesy of The Henderson House Museum, City of Tumwater, Members of Olympia Chapter #4 of the Daughters of the Pioneers gather for a meeting in the early 1950s while the house was still undergoing renovation. For well over half a century the Daughters have proudly served as stewards of Tumwater's oldest surviving home. Photographer, Merle Junk: The Susan Parish Collection.