Capitol Theater

A 1924 Mission Revival picture palace in downtown Olympia where a 1950s projectionist named Frank Miller haunts the booth, running the projector on its own and flickering lights during after-hours cleaning. A veiled Lady in White watches performances from empty seats before vanishing.

Staff closing the Capitol Theater late at night sometimes see a figure silhouetted in the projection booth window, as though someone is threading film through the old projector. The projector itself has been observed operating on its own, casting light onto the empty screen for an audience of empty seats. The ghost is attributed to Frank Miller, a projectionist who worked the booth during the 1950s and shows no sign of clocking out.

The theater opened on October 7, 1924, when over a thousand people filled a new picture palace at 206 Fifth Avenue in downtown Olympia for an evening of organ music, dance, and silent films. E.A. Zabel and William Wilson, local entertainment moguls who'd run Olympia theaters since 1909, commissioned Joseph Wohleb to design it. Wohleb, the self-taught architect behind more than 150 Washington buildings, called it a "monument to amusement lovers." He delivered a 762-seat Mission Revival and Beaux Arts jewel: glazed terra cotta on the facade, marble floors, circular leaded art glass panels by Northwest artist Raymond Nyson depicting the Greek Muses in backlit insets, and terracotta masks by Polish illustrator W.T. Benda flanking the stained glass windows. Two Smith theater pipe organs were installed in 1926 for the silent films. The Zabel family ran the Capitol as Olympia's premier venue for the next half-century. Judy Garland performed here.

On the morning of April 24, 1937, a fire alarm sounded at 9:28 AM. A single reel of highly flammable nitrate 35mm film, delivered the previous evening and stored temporarily in the janitor's closet on the mezzanine, had spontaneously combusted. The flames destroyed the balcony, mezzanine, and projection booth and severely damaged the roof and ceiling. The fire hit during morning hours when the theater was empty, so nobody was hurt. The Capitol closed for four months, reopening August 25, 1937, with a new Western Electric Mirrophonic sound system. Many of the original interior features were gone for good. The 6.8-magnitude Nisqually earthquake on February 28, 2001, cracked and partially collapsed the ornate plaster ceiling, adding another layer of damage.

Frank Miller is the most commonly encountered presence. He was known for his intense dedication to the projection booth during the 1950s, and the activity staff describe tracks with that personality. Lights flicker on and off. The projector operates with no one in the booth. The phenomena are most intense at night during cleaning, as though the ghost mistakes the after-hours routine for the quiet moments before a screening. Staff who've encountered him describe a prankster, not a threat.

A second figure, known as the Lady in White, appears in the aisles and on the stage. Witnesses describe a woman in old-fashioned clothing, her face partially obscured by a veil, watching a performance from the empty seats before vanishing. One account puts her as a shadowy figure surrounded by a faint glowing aura, walking slowly down an aisle. No records confirm who she might be. Local legend says she was a patron who died in the theater under unclear circumstances. Beyond the two named presences, performers and staff report phantom footsteps echoing through empty corridors, sudden temperature drops inside the auditorium, and props that shift position on their own backstage.

In 1980, a group of film enthusiasts formed the Olympia Film Society to preserve the aging theater. They became the sole tenant in 1986 and bought the building outright in 2010. The ongoing restoration has included a replica 1924 awning, handcrafted period-correct windows, and a painstaking recovery of the Raymond Nyson stained glass panels that had been hidden behind a 1940s marquee for over seventy years. The Capitol hosts the annual Olympia Film Festival, a ten-day event drawing five to seven thousand people.

The last time a staff member checked the projection booth after hours, the projector was warm.