[From the Oct. 31, 1935 Daily Olympian. From what I can glean, it would appear the Bordeaux Garage was in the area of the current Heritage Park Fountain. An interesting bit of Oly horse stable and downtown livestock history is included here. In reading the recollections I find myself trying to imagine what sorts of sounds and smells one would pick up downtown in the 1890s]:

FIRE DESTROYS BORDEAUX GARAGE

Entire Building Is Razed As Flames Spread Rapidly Over Structure, 12 Cars And Trucks Lost

DAMAGES ESTIMATED

To Reach Near $9,000 Mark, Only Partially Insured

A spectacular fire swept the huge frame structure which housed the Bordeaux garage at 329 Fourth avenue west early Wednesday evening, destroying eight automobiles and four trucks and two trailers stored within the structure.

The entire building was a mass of flames almost simutaneously with the first outbreak and firemen were hard pressed to avert spreading of the blaze to the adjacent structures.

Loss to building and equipment exclusive of the automobiles destroyed, was estimated at $3,000 partly covered by insurance, Fire Chief R.E. Holcomb said. It was roughly estimated the automobile loss would aggregate $6,000.

The fire originated in the office but the definite source was still undetermined Thursday morning, although Chief Holcomb was of the opinion it likely started from the oil stove. Several persons nearby at the time told Holcomb they heard an explosion but the owner, Leo Bordeaux, who was at the grease hoist, said there was no blast.

Starts in Office

Bordeaux told the fire chief he had gone from the office to the hoist, and on hearing a crackling noise a few minutes later and saw the office in flames. He could not even get to the office to telephone a fire alarm, so ran to a nearby building to put in the call.

Two firemen with one rig were out on a chimney fire call and the remaining three men and chief responded. They put in three lines and attempted to cool the blaze to avert a general spread. Firemen off shift were summoned and the two men on the chimney fire hurried to the scene to give assistance.

The blaze spread to the auto wrecking plant immediately adjacent to Bordeaux's and to the carpenter shop across the street but firemen checked the new fires immediately and loss to the other buildings was minor. The auto wrecking building is owned by the Christopher company and the carpenter shop by Lew Olmsted. Blazing tar paper also fell on the new super service station diagonally across the avenue, owned by Bill Burch, but employes [sic] were able to avert any fire there.

Cars Destroyed

Automobiles destroyed were owned by Robert Hannah, G.E. Betts, R.H. Fry, Sam Davis, Mr. Sharp, Father John McGrath, Mrs. G. Baldry and Miss Louise E. Baldry. Trucks: Leo Bordeaux, Hughes' Produce company, Hugh Sticklin and Star Laundry. Also destroyed a house car trailer stored by H.J. Maury and an oil truck trailer owned by Bordeaux.

The $50 kept in the cash register with which to conduct business, plus the day's receipts, were lost, Bordeaux said. The bottom burned out of the cash register and the currency burned and silver melted. All the records were lost also, the operator said.

DAYS OF HORSE AND BUGGIES RECALLED

Fire-swept Garage Once Leading Stable in Capital City

Memories of Olympia in the days when one-handed driving meant gripping the reins between the fingers of one hand were recalled among old-timers here by the fire which destroyed the Bordeaux garage on Fourth avenue, west, Wednesday evening.

For the structure which burned to the ground once was a modern and leading stable in Olympia.

The Halbert Brothers, Charley and Billy, built the huge frame structure in the gay 90's. At times there were a hundred or more saddle horses, ponies and work horses in the stable at a time. The brothers were dealers in livestock, buying and selling horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and even chicken.

Foster and Lagree had another large stable at the present site of the city hall [stevenl note: present NW corner of State and Cap Way], and Harvey Drewry had a barn where the Harris Dry Goods store now is located [stevenl note: apparently on the east side of Cap Way, 500 block]. About the same time Ike Ellis operated a transfer and maintained a stable on Columbia and Legion Way, and another stable was located at Fourth and Adams.

Oddly enough, the only stable remaining in Olympia, operated by H.L. Docherty, is located nearby the Bordeaux structure, and Docherty was kept busy with a hose dousing the flying embers which landed on his premises.

Queen, the only horse Docherty has left, was wild with excitement, but her owner made sure the mare could not get out. "She cried like a baby to get away," Docherty declared. Queen, Olympia's only dray horse, is a "fine mare," in the words of her owner, who said he raised her from a colt and owned both her father and mother.

Leo Bordeaux, owner of the reconverted stable destroyed, said Thursday he was undecided on rebuilding.