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Historic Fort Steilacoom
9601 Steilacoom Blvd SW
Lakewood WA 98498
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Two November talks share about local history
/in News/by fortsteilacoomHere are two opportunities to learn a lot about Lakewood’s early history as part of the United States. One is online, and one is in person. They cover a big part of our community’s history as the first US military presence in all of Puget Sound.
2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17: Learn about the military units that served at the first US Army post in Puget Sound
Military historian and longtime fort volunteer Alan Archambault presents the next in the fort’s series of talks commemorating the 175th anniversary of the fort’s founding. Alan has worked in the museum field for over 40 years and was director of the Fort Lewis Museum for 21 of those years.
Alan will share on Zoom about the various units that served at Fort Steilacoom and discuss the roles they played in the fort’s history from 1849 and during and after the US Civil War. If you geek out on military history, or are interested in the Army in early Washington Territory, this talk is for you.
The talk will be 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17. THIS TALK IS ONLINE. DO NOT GO TO THE FORT BUILDINGS. THE TALK IS ON ZOOM: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86750216666?pwd=GUjpa1DmqqJ5yv57dEakR1QIpKNLIJ.1
We’re presenting this on Zoom so we can share information with neighbors and also people outside of driving distance. So please share this program with anyone who has an interest in US military history.
If you’d rather join by phone: 253-215-8782. The Meeting ID: 867 5021 6666. Passcode: 866532.
The history of Fort Steilacoom’s history: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, talk in the Spanish Ballroom, McMenamins
Past museum board president Walter Neary will take the stage 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, in downtown Tacoma as part of the McMenamins’ monthly History Pub series. The topic: Why Fort Steilacoom Disappeared Between 1868 and 1978. Learn more about the talk and get ticket information on the McMenamins web page.
Fort Steilacoom Museum opened in the 1980s to restore and preserve the historic site. However, more than 40 years later, many people have never heard of Fort Steilacoom except that it’s the name of a park and campus. Across the nation, many museums commemorate the US Army while now dedicating resources to trying to tell the challenging history of westward expansion. But Fort Steilacoom was not even listed on a Wikipedia page of forts until June of this year.
Walter will talk about the fort, sure, but also how history gets rewritten and often misremembered or forgotten — using Fort Steilacoom as one example.
All ages welcome. Tickets are $7 in advance or at the door. Get ticketing information here.
Historic Fort Steilacoom celebrates 175 years of the US Army in Washington State through City of Lakewood event
/in News/by fortsteilacoomHFSA board president Walter Neary marked the 175th anniversary of Fort Steilacoom’s founding with a talk at Lakewood’s Coffee With the Mayor on Aug. 21. The event took place in a building in Fort Steilacoom Park, which had been part of the original post and is across Steilacoom Boulevard from the museum.
The talk was the day before the actual day 175 years ago that the U.S. Army took occupancy, Aug. 22, 1849.
HFSA board president Walter Neary keeps a tight hold on the Mahon artifacts as he takes them to the 175th anniversary talk across the street.
“The founders of Fort Steilacoom would be thrilled to know that a civic meeting is being held on this land. Their goal was to establish a U.S. government presence in Washington,” Neary told the group of about two dozen attendees.
Lakewood Mayor Jason Whalen added a personal touch, asking how many in the audience had connections to the military presence in Pierce County. Many hands were raised, including Whalen’s, whose grandfather had been stationed there during World War I.
In his presentation, Neary highlighted two key points: the role of the men and women of the fort and the fort’s place in U.S. military history over the past 175 years. He also touched on how Fort Steilacoom was overshadowed by Fort Nisqually as the fort to remember, which led to nationwide recognition of Fort Nisqually as a US post in 1978 (see more in his story in this issue). Fort Nisqually is today correctly presented as a fort affiliated with Great Britain.
Neary noted how often people mention they’ve never heard of Fort Steilacoom. “Of course not,” he said, “because some of what their parents thought they knew about pioneer Washington was wrong.” He encouraged the audience to help spread the word about the fort, saying, “It’s going to take repetition and time to change how people think about this fort.”
HFSA will continue offering talks related to the 175th anniversary, with the next one scheduled for Oct. 20 on the history of Western State Hospital.
We have talks scheduled through February! You can see the latest schedule on our Events page. The current lineup:
All meetings will be on Zoom. Do not go to the fort.
Board president reflects on the close of his second term, 20 years from the first
/in News/by fortsteilacoomBy Walter Neary
The following is from the September 2024 issue of the Historic Fort Steilacoom journal.
Serving as president of the board at Historic Fort Steilacoom both 20 years ago and again today has given me a unique point of view. One, I’m grateful anyone wanted me back, and two, the time away has shown me something only a gap of time can bring: perspective.
When I returned in 2020, it became clear that many of the challenges we faced in 2000 were still around. Some things had changed, for sure, but a lot had stayed the same. That realization motivated me to push for some changes, with the help of a dedicated board of directors.
Just one example: We now have a wonderful volunteer who tries to help us schedule volunteers – a volunteer volunteer coordinator. Imagine that! Just like museums that have paid staff. We still have energetic volunteers who don’t want to be on schedules, but it’s going to be crucial to be organized if we ever want to be open more than one Sunday a month.
Some of the changes went deep to the heart of the organization. Our board includes diverse and younger voices, along with our volunteer pool. It is crucial to have new voices. As the saying goes, if you keep doing the same things, you will get the same results.
Who should keep the lights on?
As always, just as 20 years ago: The task of keeping the lights on sometimes overwhelmed us, and that means we couldn’t devote that time to the strong stories and programs that help drive interest in a museum. I spent a lot of time dealing with our landlord, the Department of Social and Health Services. One of their people reminded me during one negotiation that Western State would have been perfectly happy to let the buildings cave in during the 80s. Yeah.
What does that say about the State of Washington? Volunteers preserve the oldest group of buildings in Washington that remain in their original layout.
During my term, we called BS on the way Washington preserves its history. In 2000, I was like everyone else – we had normalized the idea that of course Washington doesn’t operate a museum about pioneer life in Puget Sound. Volunteers can do it!
No. Every other state in this nation has a government entity with expertise in preservation and education that seeks to tell the very complicated story of pioneer life. Washington chickened out. Of course, as I write in this issue, Washington did think it was creating a US pioneer museum when it created Fort Nisqually.
But today, there’s no excuse. Washington has dodged responsibility for telling the pioneer story, good and bad parts alike.
Don’t even get me started on whether the federal government should take some responsibility for a U.S. Army fort. The story is complicated and controversial. At best, it’s neglectful; at worst, it’s cowardly to leave the job to volunteers who have to somehow manage a museum on the front lawn of a mental hospital.
City of Lakewood offers responsibility – and hope
Our current board’s legacy will be a possible way out. When I agreed to be president in 2020, I had a secret plan. It was secret because it seemed preposterous. I wanted to convince the city of Lakewood to acquire our buildings. I was going to give myself 10 years to raise our profile and try to accomplish that.
So you can imagine my surprise – ecstasy, actually – when then-Lakewood Mayor Don Anderson told me the City Council already wanted to do that. Fort Steilacoom should be reunited with Fort Steilacoom Park.
Of course, they are working with DSHS on that. But there does seem to be a lot of optimism that the transfer of buildings will take place. Our Civil War parade grounds will still be a parking lot for Western State, but that will likely change in time as construction takes place on campus.
That does not mean Lakewood is going into the museum business. No one wants that. But our volunteers would work with a responsible and appropriate custodian of the buildings.
We are off to a good start as 2024 moves to 2025. Incoming president Claire Keller-Scholz is a parks professional through her work at MetroParks. She and many of our volunteers grew up with Fort Nisqually’s passion for scholarship and living history. The new volunteers infuse our fort with energy. I’m excited about the future. I hope to be elected as board secretary. The thought of following legends Orville Stout and Joe Lewis is intimidating, but what’s life without challenge?
So whoever you are who is president in 2040 – I hope our board left you something to work with!