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Local historian recounts Evergreen Ballroomhistory, plans kiosk commemoration
Summary
At a Lacey Museum history talk, researcher Rebecca Sanchez outlined the Evergreen Ballroom: its founding by Walter Schoeland, a midcentury run of major performers and local bands, fires in 1931 and 2000, surviving archival material and posters, and a planned kiosk plaque in Lacey Park.
Rebecca Sanchez, an educator and freelance writer, presented a chronological account of the Evergreen Ballroom during a Lacey Museum history talk, tracing the venue from its 1931 opening through its role as a midcentury music stop and its destruction by fire in 2000.
Sanchez said the ballroom was built by Walter Schoeland and opened in May 1931 as the Evergreen Pavilion, with the venue described in period advertisements as "7 miles east of Olympia on Tacoma Highway" and featuring music from Schoeland's orchestra. She reported the structure was rebuilt after a November 1931 fire and reopened in June 1932 as the Evergreen Colonial Ballroom.
The presentation summarized archival sources Sanchez used: local newspapers, census records, Washington State Archives and Library holdings, the Thurston County assessor field book, and oral interviews with former performers and attendees. "From the research that I did, I saw an immigrant story. I saw the story of opportunity, the story of youth, and the story of diversity in Thurston County," Sanchez said.
Sanchez described the building's size and amenities as reported in contemporary coverage and assessor records: a hall roughly 70 by 120 feet with a maple dance floor (listed at about 1,670…
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