Entries by fortsteilacoom

Book Sale Fundraiser to be held April 13, 2024

10 am – 3 pm at Historic Fort Steilacoom, Quarters 2, in Lakewood. Want to help support the mission of Historic Fort Steilacoom? Donate your gently used material to the museum for the sale! Fiction and non-fiction books in all genres are welcome. The only criteria is that they need to be in reasonably good condition (no […]

archived events from past years

This is a file of some previous events 2023 events Of course, we’re open the first Sunday of every month for tours. Book here. March 25, 2023: Our first Swap Meet since the pandemic.  July 2, 2023: Living history to celebrate the Fourth. It’s a new event for us, and we’re excited about it. July […]

Update: Christmas at Fort Steilacoom 2023 will be sold out

  Dec. 7 update: Thank you, thank you to our many wonderful supporters who have purchased tickets. This event is largely sold out except for two slots available as we type this, at 6:10 and 7:10. PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THIS EVENT WITHOUT A TICKET. WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SELL TICKETS AT […]

An all-volunteer museum was a great idea. Until it wasn’t.

The following is an opinion publishing in the winter 2023 issue of our newsletter  by the museum board president, Walter Neary: It was a gift to be president of this museum board in the early 2000s and to return after a decades-long break in 2020. One can see, very clearly, how some things change and […]

Anthropologist Marian Smith and her 1940 ‘Puyallup-Nisqually’ book

Marian Smith’s mentors told her not to write her book. She wrote it anyway. By Walter Neary This article is a fuller version of an article in the winter 2023 issue of the Historic Fort Steilacoom newsletter. Comments most welcome. Marian Smith was an anthropologist who interviewed several elders of the Puyallup and Nisqually Tribes […]

Fort Steilacoom Park is topic of annual meeting Oct. 15

The Historic Fort Steilacoom Association will host its annual meeting online at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15. There will be a brief business meeting where members will elect officers to the board of directors. Then the gathering will quickly move to the topic, “The historic significance of Fort Steilacoom and Fort Steilacoom Park.” The […]

Call for volunteers: Would you like to get involved in local history?

The period during and after the pandemic mixed things up for volunteer organizations throughout Puget Sound and the nation. We have plenty of room for volunteers with a desire to get involved and to help the community. Here is a list of some volunteer opportunities with Fort Steilacoom: We seek help with our website. There are […]

Museum board president calls for new way of managing historic site

The board president of Historic Fort Steilacoom recently authored a personal opinion column for The News Tribune. The original draft is reprinted here for convenience, and reflects Walter Neary’s personal opinion. Current ownership of Fort Steilacoom masks the early history of Washington Territory or Hospitals and museums are different things By Walter Neary   When […]