Fort Flagler Historical State Park
| Fort Flagler | |||
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| National Register of Historic Places | |||
| Historic District | |||
 Deer grazing in front of the former officers' quarters in Fort Flagler State Park |
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| location | Jefferson County in Washington (USA) | ||
| Coordinates | 48 ° 5 '50.3 " N , 122 ° 41' 41.6" W | ||
| surface | 317 ha | ||
| Built | 1897-1899 | ||
| NRHP number | 76001882 | ||
| The NRHP added | May 3, 1976 | ||
The Fort Flagler State Historical Park is a state park in the US state of Washington . The 317 acre park is located eight miles northeast of Port Hadlock in Jefferson County on the site of the former US coastal fort Fort Flagler.
geography
The park is located on the northern tip of Marrowstone Island and is surrounded by water on three sides. The park is located on a ten meter high cliff above Admiralty Inlet and Port Townsend Bay and has a 5800 meter long coastline.
history
Fort Flagler was one of the coastal fortifications built as part of the construction program named after then Secretary of War Endicott . The fort was founded in 1897 and entered service on July 27, 1899. The fortress was named after Brigadier General Daniel Webster Flagler , the head of the armaments department of the US War Department who died in 1899. Fort Flagler was part of the coastal fortification of Puget Sound and, together with Fort Worden and Fort Casey, was supposed to close the entrance to Admiralty Inlet , the main entrance to Puget Sound and thus to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the cities of Seattle , Tacoma and Everett for enemy ships .
In June 1899 the first buildings of the fort were completed, so that the fort could be put into service on July 27, 1899. The garrison initially consisted of 86 soldiers and three officers from the 3rd US Coastal Artillery, and Fort Flagler served as the headquarters of the three forts of the Puget Sound Coastal Defense until the headquarters were relocated to Fort Worden on September 4, 1904, from where the officers were more easily located Port Townsend's social life .
Fort Flagler was initially equipped with three batteries with coastal guns of 25.4 cm and 30.5 cm caliber. The batteries were completed in 1899 and shortly thereafter two more batteries with eight 30.5 cm mortars and two 12.7 cm guns were added. In 1905 and 1906 four more batteries with lighter guns were built. In 1907 the fortress was completed and armed with a total of 26 guns. During the First World War, eight guns were sent to the Western Front in France, where they were to be used as rail or field guns. Two more guns were moved to Canada. After the First World War, the fort was used as a training ground for the Reserve Officer Training Corps . During World War II and the Korean War, the fort served as a training ground for amphibious operations. The long outdated, still remaining heavy artillery was dismantled and scrapped from 1941 to 1942, but the fort was armored with seven anti-aircraft guns. The dismantling and scrapping of the remaining guns began in 1946. After the end of the Korean War, the fort was closed on June 7, 1953. In 1955, Washington State bought the site and established Fort Flagler State Park. For museum purposes, the Wansboro battery was re-equipped with two 3-inch guns from Fort Wint in the Philippines in 1960 . In 1976 the facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places .
Tourist facilities
There is a fee to visit the park. In the park there is a campsite, a 78 meter long boat mooring and two boat ramps to the sea. There is a diving area designated as an underwater park off the coast . Five miles of bike and hiking trails run through the park. Some of the former barracks can be rented as group accommodation. A small museum informs about the military history of the fortress, some of the former gun emplacements can be visited. The Marrowstone Light, built from 1888 on the northeastern tip of the island, is still in operation and cannot be visited.
literature
- Marge Mueller, Ted Mueller: Washington State Parks: a Complete Recreation Guide. Mountaineers Books, Seattle 2004, ISBN 0-89886-642-1 .
