Fort Vancouver, WA

1/31/2024

Visitor Center, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site--the replica of the fort is down the hill.

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and Pearson Air Museum
Photos taken over the years; those from June 2022 and July 2023 at bottom.
More about Chief Factor John McLoughlin at

https://www.travelpacificnw.com/accessible-travel-blog/oregon-city-or

A Little Time Traveling
Travel to and through Fort Vancouver, WA was near at hand, if it had existed, as Lewis and Clark with their Corps of Discovery canoed the Columbia on their way to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. There they built a fort (Clatsop), stayed 3 months of miserable winter, and seemed only too glad to pull up stakes and head back east in the spring.

Fur traders weren’t far behind, as (Fort) Astoria was founded in 1811, not far by car from Fort Clatsop. Hudson’s Bay Company acquired Astoria (named it Fort George), and decided to set up another shop further inland: Fort Vancouver, est. 1825 (1829 present site).

Fort Vancouver became a grand central station for trade and travelers—furs, fishing, food, timber, and a supply depot for Oregon Trailers headed for the famed and fertile Willamette Valley. General Ulysses S. Grant, 18th US President served a couple years at Fort Vancouver in the 1850s, long before he was so well-known. There's a plaque along Officers Row listing other famous figures who were at the Fort.

Various Events
We can travel there in considerably more comfort, less time, and live vicariously through nearly 200 years of US history, and more. Come to the reconstructed Fort to see it re-enacted and retold. It’s not expensive, but look on my Travel Tips page for free days (Federal Parks). The Fort has been the venue for lots of living and learning . . . from watching 4th of July fireworks to costumed history demonstrations & encampments to archeology digs for kids. The displays at the Visitor Center are changeable.

February 29, 2020 I attended a lecture on Buffalo Soldier Moses Williams, whose life came to a lonely close at Fort Vancouver. He had a 30 year long and distinguished career in the Army, through the Indian Wars (between the Civil War and the 1890s), was transferred to Fort Stevens (near Fort Clatsop and Astoria) the last few years of his service, and chose to retire at Fort Vancouver. At the time, Astoria had less than 10 black people, Vancouver only 10 (until Company B of the Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry Regiment was stationed at Fort Vancouver), Portland had about 700. But Fort Vancouver offered a place he could live, and a military hospital. See

Unfortunately, I missed Native Arts Day in Oct 2019. In 2015 I attended the Fort’s “National Get Outdoors Day” event with lots of booths, activities, foods, and the 1840s Brigade Encampment. In other years there have been Vintage Baseball (including the firing of a Howitzer), 1867 croquet, soirees, garden parties. Lantern tours have been offered through the winter 2019-2020 (two more: Mar 14 & 21 in 2020). March 14, 2020 another free event will be offered, “160 Years of Women’s Suffrage in Washington Territory”. May 16 Mt. St. Helens will be the topic, and I’ve been told you can get the 2020 “Volcano Review” there in May to plan your visit to that mountain on its 40th anniversary of the 1980 eruption. To keep on top of events at Fort Vancouver, see

https://www.facebook.com/friendsoffortvancouver/

I recommend visiting the Fort’s website before you come, after you come, and/or if you can’t come. There is so much to explore. Look under “Plan Your Visit” for basic information and a link to the Calendar. Under “Learn About the Park” there’s a virtual tour, as well as “History and Culture”, You can find out about the People of different eras (click on their names to find out more), the Places that are a part of the park (Pearson Air Field & Museum down the hill from the Park’s Visitor Center, McLoughlin House in Portland). https://www.nps.gov/fova/index.htm

Accessibility
The Visitor Center has accessible paved parking, outdoor drinking fountain, and pleasant accessible restrooms. It’s on a single floor, has some exhibits, kid activity, and a “book” store with all kinds of cool stuff to buy in support of the Friends of Fort Vancouver that bring so many great events to the fort.

There’s a little packed gravel path to the interesting Japanese memorial.

The replica Fort itself and the Pearson Air Museum are down a substantial hill from the Visitor Center. There’s a paved road that is fun to go down, not as fun to go up, in a manual wheelchair. No problem by car. If you go to the encampment with a manual wheelchair, bring a strong pusher.

The parking by the replica Fort is gravel. The trails between the Fort and the Air Museum are flat, packed gravel, but you can also walk the sidewalk along the road between the fort and the Air Museum. The 2 Village houses are quite a stroll/roll away on unpaved paths if you miss the paved path (more about this at bottom), and to wheel up over the land bridge to the Old Apple Tree Park requires a lot of muscle or motor.

The Fort is somewhat accessible. It’s useful to have an able-bodied partner. The outdoor paths are ok, only the ground floor of the tower is accessible. There was an old outdoor elevator into the main house when I’ve been there before. The garden paths are not all too wide, but you can see most everything.

One of many brochures about the Fort I've collected over the years

Update Feb 2022
It was an absolute glorious day when I went late Feb to see the village houses as they were open weekends. Photos below:

The Village for laborers, a couple cabins reconstructed at Fort Vancouver

Pearson Air Field from Fort Vancouver, Mt Hood beyond.

Officers Row update, 6-23-2022
We decided to explore Officers Row one day, and parked behind the O.O. Howard House as a sort of midpoint. There's a lovely park area there, a plaza with bistro tables & benches that would be so nice a place for lunch (a coffee/food truck was parked in the parking lot), and an heritage rose garden. We happened into the Director of Education, and what a happy happenstance! She was so helpful and informative. The O.O. Howard House is mostly offices, but she let us see the hallway, marked a map with what was open. We planned our loop route and set out.

Evergreen Arboretum plaza & fountain, east entrance of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site,
Evergreen Blvd & Reserve St; and bus stop

Huge Anchor on display east of the Visitor Center

Visitor Center in June of 2022
Displays & kid activities at the Visitor Center change from time to time.

Parade Grounds, plus Cannons & Memorial (the latter north of O.O. Howard House).

Big plans for Fort Vancouver WA under construction.

Update from 1 July 2023 Summerfest--coincided with Canada Day
Since Ft Vancouver was essentially part of British Canada/North America at its inception, I thought this such an appropriate way to spend Canada Day.

The Grant House--Officer's Row

The Visitor Center--addendum

A few more pics on the way down to the replica/reconstruction of Ft Vancouver

Reconstructed HBC Fort Vancouver (Fort Vancouver National Historic Site)-1001 E 5th St, Vancouver WA 98661
On some days interesting & knowledgeable volunteers offer great insights into life in the past. Not every building is open every day, and the garden (in particular) changes through the seasons, so it's worth revisiting.