A hand-carved sandstone apple from south Thurston County has been selected to represent Washington state inside the U.S. Capitol for the next 250 years.

Keith Phillips, a 79-year-old master stone carver from Tenino, carved the apple from Tenino sandstone quarried at Hercules #1 Quarry.

The piece has been placed in the Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule beneath the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, where it will remain sealed until 2276.

Phillips learned the news on the morning of July 16, according to The Olympian, when he received a phone call while sitting at the barn-door entrance of The Shed, the Tenino Stone Carvers Guild's showroom converted from a historic dirt-floor feed storage building.

"I feel famous!" Phillips told The Olympian. "I feel really proud and happy and appreciated."

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who represents Washington's 3rd Congressional District, selected the apple for the capsule. The choice is personal. Gluesenkamp Perez's great-great-uncle, Andrew Wilson, was a stonecutter in Tenino. Her great-grandfather, Burt Gilmore, served as quarry master at Hercules #1 during the extraction of stones used to build the Washington State Capitol in Olympia.

Wilson's photograph still hangs from a beam inside The Shed.

The Tenino sandstone used for the apple is the same material that forms the walls of the State Capitol Building. The city has been known historically as the "Sandstone Capital of the West" after quarrying exploded there in the 1880s.

Phillips arrived in Tenino in 1984. His carvings are visible throughout the town: a stone grocery bag in front of the supermarket, a carved mortar and pestle outside the pharmacy.

Each apple takes six to eight hours to carve, starting as a square block cut with a diamond saw, shaped into a cylinder, then rounded at the top with a dimpled bottom. Phillips estimates he has made about 50 of the stone apples, including one given to former Gov. Jay Inslee.

His craft lineage traces back through Lorenz "Larry" Scheel to Andrew Wilson and ultimately to the Scottish master stonecutters who built Tenino's reputation more than a century ago, according to Commissioner Wayne Fournier.

Phillips announced a soft retirement after completing his most recent major commission, a memorial honoring former Secretary of State Ralph Munro. He has been nominated for the Washington State Historic Preservation Officer's Career Achievement Award.

The Tenino Stone Carvers Guild, which Phillips co-founded with Guild Director Bill Lenker in 2023, continues the tradition.

Lenker's own stonework is familiar to Olympia and Tumwater residents: the patio and walls of Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls, a circular bench at the Olympia Farmers Market, and the 3½-ton Olympia Beer logo outside the Olympia Tumwater Foundation office.

"We want to honor the past workers and keep the heritage moving forward," Lenker told The Olympian. "And the skills, which will be lost forever if people like Keith don't share."

The guild offers stone carving classes at the quarry and a nearby school, and hopes to eventually open a physical education center in Tenino.

The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners adopted a proclamation on July 21, recognizing Phillips and the guild for their contributions to historic preservation and Washington's cultural heritage.

As of July 17, a spokesperson for Gluesenkamp Perez told The Olympian the capsule had not yet been sealed. The congressional time capsule is separate from "America's Time Capsule," which was buried at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia on July 4.