A new exhibit exploring how The Evergreen State College shaped Olympia opens Thursday, Sept. 10, at the downtown AHA Museum and Visitor Center.

"The Evergreen Effect" traces the college's influence on the city's identity since Evergreen first welcomed 1,128 students on Oct. 4, 1971. The college was the first public four-year institution created in Washington state in the 20th century, according to Evergreen's history page.

The museum, at 203 Columbia St. NW at the corner of State Avenue and Columbia Street, announced the exhibit as part of the Olympia Downtown Alliance's "Alliance Committee Voices" series.

One week later, on Thursday, Sept. 17, the museum launches an interactive Olympia Murals Map. Olympia has more than 120 murals. The map joins the museum's existing "Paint the Town" exhibit, which explores how those murals reflect the community's creativity and history. A kid-sized cardboard city sits alongside the map display.

In the entry gallery, two wall-sized maps by Olympia muralist Fern Tallos show downtown from both a close-up and a distant perspective.

The museum's exhibit boxes hold objects tied to the area's history. Among them: a single log that can be dug out to create a canoe and the spiked "caulking boots" forestry workers use to walk on wet, slippery logs.

The site was once part of the Steh-Chass village waterfront and has since housed a blacksmith shop, a tire dealership and a chocolate shop.

The museum is open Thursdays from noon to 4 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. More information is available at olyaha.org or by calling (360) 800-7210.