Washington's Once-Thriving Outpost Now Houses The Oldest Building In The State And A Living History Museum

When you think of the early history of America, you likely picture New England or maybe Virginia. Washington state, on the other side of the country, was one of the much later stops for the European colonists, but it became an important frontier for settlers' trade routes in the 19th century. You can see a rebuilt slice of that chapter in Washington's history at the reconstructed Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, located within Point Defiance Park. Set by the waters of the Puget Sound, the walled historical site has some fascinating gems, including a period-accurate crop field and the state's oldest surviving building.

The Fort Nisqually site consists of several settlement buildings arranged as they would have looked in 1855. The settlement wasn't actually a fort, but rather a trading and farming outpost, and visitors can see how the settlers would have farmed and stored their goods at the time. Reenactors dressed in historical garb perform the everyday duties the 19th-century inhabitants would have, like preparing meals or making rope, while visitors get to wander through furnished homes and even try out food made in a historically faithful kitchen. These details turn Fort Nisqually from a static exhibit into a living reconstruction.

With all its period-accurate structures, there's one thing slightly astray about Fort Nisqually. Where it stands today, at Tacoma's scenic bayside oasis of Point Defiance Park, was not the initial location of the settlement. It was originally located close to present-day DuPont, further south on the Puget Sound, according to the museum. The settlement's first enterprise was trading fur, but it shifted into agriculture as the fur trade declined. Many of the buildings and furnishings reconstructed on the site today reflect its agricultural focus: a field that grows real crops with seeds that would have been used at the time, storage buildings for grains and vegetables, and plows worked by reenactors.

Though it may have moved from its true site, a historical highlight that makes up for this discrepancy is that Fort Nisqually has two structures from its original settlement. One is the Factor's House, which was built in 1845, according to a National Parks Service survey, and is made up of multiple rooms visitors can walk through today. The other is the Granary. Dating back to 1843, the Granary holds the title of the oldest building in the state, even predating Washington's oldest town, the overlooked gem of Steilacoom. Its purpose was to store winnowed grain, like wheat and barley.

Visitors to Fort Nisqually pay an admission fee – ranging from $10 to 13.50 depending on age — and can then wander on their own around the site's buildings and exhibits. Though the site is open for self-guided tours on most days, it also hosts lots of special events geared towards transporting you back to the settlement's 19th-century heyday. These include demonstrations where you can play games from the era and reenactments of fur trading encounters. One event that happens annually, called Dine We Must, even serves a full dinner of Northwest cuisine and desserts cooked in the replica settlement kitchen. There's a museum store on-site that has some artisanal items made at the museum, like hand-made iron candy canes forged by a local blacksmith.

If you're flying in, Fort Nisqually (and Point Defiance Park) is about a 45-minute drive from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. For those who already plan to stay in Tacoma, the historic site lies at the northern tip of the city, about a 20-minute drive from downtown. Reviewers have noted that there are plenty of nearby parking options. On a chilly day, you can stick around at Point Defiance Park and check out its Svette Sauna, one of the steamy Pacific Northwest saunas where you can plunge into a natural body of water.