wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > HB 1977 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that Tenino quarry sandstone has both historic and contemporary significance for the state of Washington. Prospectors discovered sandstone in Tenino, Washington in 1870. In 1889, Samuel W. Fenton and George Van Tine opened Tenino's first sandstone quarry. The 1889 historic fire in Seattle created the opportunity for Tenino sandstone to be used on a more regular basis for construction of buildings throughout the Pacific Northwest. By the early 1900's, Tenino was the region's most important source of the versatile stone. Tenino sandstone is included in the east wing of the Washington state capitol, the original main branch of the Seattle public library, the Bailey building in Seattle, the Northern Pacific Railway station in Missoula, Montana, the Calvary Presbyterian church in San Francisco, California, and the main high school in Stockton, California. Tenino sandstone is a structural component of the Philadelphia Freedom Monument and represents Washington state in the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. The Tenino quarry is still active today.
Tenino sandstone is hereby designated as the official rock of the state of Washington.