Fort Worden Historical State Park
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Fort Worden Historical State Park
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 Former fort building in Fort Worden State Park |
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| location | Jefferson County in Washington (USA) | |
| surface | 175 ha | |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 8 ' N , 122 ° 46' W | |
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| administration | Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission | |
The Fort Worden State Historical Park is a state park in the US state of Washington . The park is located on the site of the former coastal fortification Fort Worden .
geography
The 175 acre park is located on a cliff at the northern tip of the Quimper Peninsula, part of the Olympic Peninsula . In the south it borders directly on the city of Port Townsend . Point Wilson headland to the northeast of the park forms the boundary between Juan de Fuca Strait and Admiralty Inlet , the main entrance to Puget Sound . The park has three kilometers of coastline. The highest point in the park is Artillery Hill, over 70 meters high .
history
Fort Worden, along with Fort Casey and Fort Flagler, was part of a coastal fortification system that was built from the 1890s to defend the entrance to the Puget Sound and thus to the cities of Seattle , Tacoma and Everett and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton . The fortress served as a coastal fort and training camp and was abandoned in 1953. On July 1, 1957, Washington State bought the facility and set up a home for difficult-to-educate young people in the building. The home closed in 1971, and in 1973 the grounds were given to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission for the establishment of a convention center and state park. On August 18, 1973, the facility opened as a state park and conference center. The park is supported by Friends of Fort Worden , a non-profit association that also runs the gift shop in the visitor center.
Tourist facilities
Fort Worden now serves as a state park and convention center. There is a fee to visit the park. Numerous historical buildings from the former fortress are still preserved. Some of them serve as conference rooms or as accommodation for the guests of the conference center. The conference center offers seminar or lecture rooms as well as accommodation for groups of 10 to 300 people. In addition to the guest houses of the conference center, there are numerous other overnight accommodations in the park:
- Some of the former officers' houses can be rented.
- Alexander's Castle, a castle-like private house built in 1883 from the pre-fortress era, can also be rented as a holiday home.
- A former barracks building serves as a youth hostel.
- With the Beach Campground at Point Wilson and the upper, wooded campsite, the park has two campsites with a total of 80 parking spaces.
The park's visitor center is located in the former guard house, which also houses a souvenir shop. The former balloon hangar serves as an event hall for up to 350 people.
The former home of the fortress commander now serves as a museum. The spacious house was completed in 1904 and gives an insight into the upscale living culture of a senior officer family towards the end of the Victorian era .
The Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum in the park was founded in 1976 by veterans of the coastal artillery and provides uniforms, maps, models, photographs and other exhibits from the history of coastal fortifications on Puget Sound. Numerous bunkers and concrete gun emplacements have been preserved from the fortifications. The bunkers are partly overgrown with trees and bushes, but the interiors can be visited. The guns themselves have been dismantled.
The Port Townsend Marine Science Center is located in a historic building on the fortress’s former dock . This museum is a hands-on experience of natural history and the abundance of life on the coast and in the waters of Puget Sound in seawater pools. The museum offers information events and natural history walks on the beach.
The lighthouse at Point Wilson still serves as a navigation signal and cannot be visited.
18 kilometers of footpaths and bike paths run through the park. The conference center and the park have tennis courts, a ball court and numerous picnic areas. On the coast there are two boat ramps and a boat dock over 70 meters long. Kayaks, bicycles, tennis equipment, and other sports equipment can be rented at the park. An underwater park for scuba divers is located south of Point Wilson.
Fort Worden State Park in the movie
In 1982 the former barracks and bunkers in the park served as the backdrop for the filming of the film An Officer and a Gentleman .
literature
- Marge Mueller, Ted Mueller: Washington State Parks: a Complete Recreation Guide. Mountaineers Books, Seattle, 2004, ISBN 978-0-89886-642-1
