Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report

Site

General Description

General changes in land ownership of the portions of Vancouver Barracks now associated with the Fort Plain site post-dating World War II have been addressed in the preceding Political and Administrative Context section. Today, the National Park Service and the United States Army operate most of the public lands remaining on the site of old Fort Plain.

The principal exceptions are the Federal Highway Administration, which retains the old Bureau of Public Roads complex north of East Fifth Street at the west edge of Vancouver Barracks; the easement permitting the Burlington Northern's railroad embankment; the City of Vancouver, which owns Officers' Row, and the latter's lease agreement and subsequent memorandum of understanding with the National Park Service, which allows it to operate Pearson Airpark on the west half of the land the Park Service purchased in 1972.

Principal changes to the site since the end of World War II included expansion of Pearson Airpark structures and runways to the west, within a few hundred feet of the stockade site; demolition of a significant number of Vancouver Barracks structures, primarily the old C.C.C. buildings south of East Fifth Street on land now largely owned by the Park Service, but also north of that road; reconstruction of the Hudson's Bay Company stockade and some buildings within it and road, parking lot and building construction associated with the park's visitor services and administration.

Construction of Interstate 5 on the Highway 99 route in the 1960s and subsequent improvement of State Road 14, the Lewis and Clark Highway, which runs just north of the railroad embankment along the southern edge of the site, led in the mid-1970s to construction of a new interchange near the southwest corner of the site, over a portion of the Hudson's Bay Company Kanaka Village site. Today, Fort Vancouver is most easily accessed via the Mill Plain Road exit from Interstate 5, or through the City of Vancouver over a freeway overpass to Evergreen Boulevard. Access to the site from the south, via McLoughlin Road, was effectively terminated during World War II; since that time, the road south of East Fifth Street has ceased to exist. Access to the west edge of the site from Vancouver via East Fifth Street was terminated by the mid-1950s.

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site

Because the exact location of the stockade had been lost over time, and because that knowledge was necessary to determine the boundaries of the proposed Fort Vancouver National Monument, Congress appropriated funds for fiscal year 1948 for an archaeological exploration to determine the exact stockade site. Work began under archaeologist Louis Caywood in the fall of 1947, resulting in the discovery of four stockade corners. Historical investigations on the site began about the same time. Studies under Caywood's direction continued until 1952, focusing on the stockade walls, the location and construction methods of Company structures within the stockade, and retrieval and study of artifacts associated with the Company for use in developing and interpreting Fort Vancouver to the public. The subsequent archaeological and historical studies are intimately tied to the present-day appearance of the site, since all reconstructive work in the past thirty years has been based on these investigations.

As noted elsewhere in this section, the National Park Service initially received a little over fifty-three acres for the monument as part of a transfer from the WAA: 8 acres south of East Fifth Street, containing most of the stockade site, and a little over 45 acres north of East Fifth Street, including most of the Vancouver Barracks parade grounds. In 1953 the army transferred an additional nine acres to the Park Service, which included the remainder of the stockade site. Over the years, as discussed previously, additional acreage has been added to the park site, most notably a narrow strip along the Columbia River (1957-8); the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway right-of-way (1958); about half of the old Kanaka Village site (1963); the west portion of Pearson Airpark (1972), site of the Hudson's Bay Company's most intensively farmed fields.

The present day site of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site includes basically six areas of development or potential development: the area north of East Fifth Street, which includes the Vancouver Barracks parade grounds, and five post-war Park Service buildings, including the Visitor's Center; the stockade area, which includes the reconstructed 1844-46 stockade walls and interior structures, and the garden and orchard sites; the site of the Company's Fort Plain fields, currently the west half of Pearson Airpark; part of Kanaka Village and the army's old quartermaster's depot to the west of the stockade, largely undeveloped, with the exception of the army complex south of East Fifth Street and the highway interchange; the railroad right-of-way and a narrow strip of land along its south edge, which includes portions of the site of the Company's river front complex; the strip of land between Columbia Way and the Columbia River, now partially used by the City of Vancouver as a park, which includes portions of the site of the Company's river front complex.

North of East Fifth Street

In the 1950s, the Park Service utilized existing Vancouver Barracks structures in this area of the National Historic Site. The first National Park Service office was located in the 1911 Vancouver Barracks fire station, located near the corner of Ingalls Road and McClelland Road; a parking lot just north of the building and east of Ingalls Road was built. Ingalls Road served as the principal entrance to the park site. The park's superintendent was housed in the 1923 non-commissioned officers' quarters at the south end of Ingalls Road. Road access to the stockade site across the lower portion of this area followed the McClelland Road alignment west from the office, and then turned south towards East Fifth Street. All other Vancouver Barracks buildings on this part of the Historic Site, with the exception of two small structures used for storage, were demolished. The early Park Service Office and the superintendent's house were demolished by 1961.

By the 1960s, most visitors to the park entered from the northwest, drove along Evergreen Boulevard (formerly Grant Avenue), past Officers' Row, and entered a paved drive opposite and a few hundred feet east of what is now known as the Marshall House, along the old Ingalls Road alignment. The drive led to a Y, with the east branch leading to a building housing a visitor's center and administrative offices, built in 1961, with a parking lot located to the northeast of it. Further east of the lot was a road which led to employee residences and a maintenance area, built at the east edge of the site, accessible from East Reserve Street. The west branch of the Y led to a paved, curving road which ran southwest to the former alignment of McClelland Road, then headed west roughly along that alignment for several hundred yards before turning south, cutting through the area of Vancouver Barracks that had formerly been been part of the 1940s commissary-bakery-complex--all demolished--to a crossing at East Fifth Street.

By the early 1960s, all structures and roads formerly associated with Vancouver Barracks in this area had been removed. In 1961, the roads leading to the old Park Service Office and Superintendent's house, the first parking lot, and the structures themselves, had been removed, covered with topsoil and seeded in grass, although there exists today some vegetation dating from the time the old non-commissioned officers' quarters and barracks still stood. Some vegetation north of East Fifth Street was planted at that time, including clusters of maples, incense cedars, holly, and Douglas firs, and various shrubs and trees around the new visitor's center.

In the mid-1970s the interior of the Visitor's Center was renovated, with the installation of updated interpretive exhibits. Other than terminating the access between the parking lot and the employee residential structures, the conversation of a residence to offices, and construction of a maintenance shed in the maintenance area, this area of the park has remained the same since the 1960s.

Historic Hudson's Bay Company Stockade Site

The Hudson's Bay Company stockade, heart of the park, has undergone a series of transformations as funds have been made available for reconstruction over the past thirty years. By the mid-1950s, an access road to the site had been established, running parallel to and to the east of the historic north road to the fort. In 1966 the north stockade wall north gate, and about thirty-seven feet of the east stockade wall was reconstructed, following intensive archaeological and historical investigations. By 1967, a chain link fence had been erected south of the reconstructed north wall to allow visitors to view t] north edge of the site. A rail fence had been erected on both sides of the historic north road, leading from East Fifth Street to the reconstructed north gate.

Beginning in 1972, additional reconstruction began at the stockade. By 1976, the remaining walls of the stockade, the northwest bastion, the bakehouse, the Chief Factor's house and kitchen, and the wash house had been reconstructed. During this period, archaeological investigations had also continued. In the 1980s, the blacksmith's shop and the Indian trade shop were reconstructed, and in 1992 reconstruction began on the s fur store.

Historic Hudson's Bay Company Garden and Orchard Area

In 1960-61, the Park Service planted fruit trees just north of the stockade, in the corner of the Company's garden site. A variety of trees were planted, including various species of dwarf and standard apples, and various varieties of cherries and plums. The planting plan did not follow any particular historic plan. By 1978, the area of new fruit trees, referred to as "The Orchard," had been expanded north to East Fifth Street, and w to the edge of the stockade, encompassing all of the former Company garden site within the park's boundaries--the northwest edge of the garden site was not, and still is not part of National Historic Site.

In the 1980s, an interpretive garden area was established north of the stockade walls in southeast corner of the historic garden site, and planted with various perennial and annual plants which might have existed during the historic period; a few cuttings were taken still existing plants on homesteads of ex-Hudson's Bay Company employees in the and replanted in the garden.

Historic Hudson's Bay Company Field and Pasture Area

The history of the changes in the fields and pastures to the east and south of the stockade are addressed in the Pearson Airpark section. The fields north and east of the stockade within the Pearson Airpark boundary were sodded with grass; a gravel parking lot is located just south of East Fifth Street for stockade visitors.

Quartermaster's Depot/Historic Hudson's Bay Company Kanaka Village

Most of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp structures stood on the site until November of 1963, when they were razed, following the transfer of the fourteen-and-one-half acres on which they stood from the army to the Park Service in May of that year. The west and northwest twelve acres were retained by the army; the history of those areas are discussed in the Vancouver Barracks section. Remnants of the CCC loop road serving the buildings are still extant on the site, as is some vegetation that dates to that period.

Construction of the State Route 14-Interstate 5 interchange in the southwest corner of the site effectively obliterated the north end of the Hudson's Bay Company's river front complex, as well as most of the south and west edge of Kanaka Village and the quartermaster's depot, although archaeological investigations in the 1970s and 1980s, preceding construction, were successful in identifying some structures and in recovery of artifacts. [1223] To date, this area of the National Historic Site remains undeveloped.

Historic River Front Area

In 1957-8, the National Park Service acquired about six-and-one-half acres from the General Services Administration a long, narrow strip between the Columbia River and Columbia Way. The City of Vancouver was issued a permit which enabled it to use the property as a public park, and a boat-launching ramp was installed. In 1958, the railroad right-of-way was transferred to the park, along with a narrow strip of land to its immediate south. In 1974-5 the park service acquired two acres of land adjacent to the west edge of its river front property, which included the land on a U.S. Coast Guard station had been built and later abandoned in 1972. The City of Vancouver continues to operate a park on these properties.

Vancouver Barracks

After eighty-four-and-one-half acres of Vancouver were withdrawn from the surplus declaration in December of 1946, the size of Vancouver Barracks was considerably reduced. Officers' Row was ceded to various agencies, including the Veteran s Administration, and the west entrance complex west of the old 1879 commanding officer's house on McLoughlin Road was ceded to the State of Washington, which later built a state patrol building just south of Evergreen Boulevard (Grant Avenue) at the west edge of the former military reservation. The parade grounds north of the 1904-06 barracks, and all the land east of a north-south line dividing the bakery-commissary complex, and north of East Fifth Street, about forty-five acres, became the part of the land to be dedicated to the Fort Vancouver National Monument.

Below East Fifth Street, the former army airfield was deeded to the City of Vancouver for Pearson Airpark. About eight acres of the stockade site, which excluded part of its east area, and part of the garden site were deeded to the National Park Service for the national monument; by the mid-1950s, the remainder of the stockade site had become part of the national monument. Initially, the army retained most of the former army quartermaster's depot/Kanaka Village area west of the Hudson's Bay Company stockade site, with the exception of a large area south of the stockade site, extending almost to the alignment of the south end of McLoughlin Road, which was part of the airpark. Some Civilian Conservation Corps buildings remained on the site of the former Company orchard, just west of the stockade site, until the late 1950s. In 1963 the area between the west edge of the stockade site and the alignment of McLoughlin Road, about fourteen-and-one-half acres, was transferred to the National Park Service, although several acres just south of East Fifth Street and west of McLoughlin Road were retained by the military, which still holds them. This acreage included a great deal of the Kanaka Village site and the east edge of the subsequent quartermaster's depot.

In the early 1980s, the remaining old Quartermaster's Depot buildings, including the 1909 infantry stables, and the more recent war-vintage motor pool structures west of McLoughlin Road were demolished, and the road network and parking areas altered. Four new structures were erected, three in the northwest corner of the site, and one to the east, which serve as maintenance training and motor repair shops and warehouses. Prior to and during construction, archaeological investigations were effected in 1980 and 1981 to mitigate the impact of construction and demolition, and some remnants of the earliest quartermaster's structures were discovered. [1224] The old C.C.C. structures to the east of McLoughlin Road--the auto repair shop, the garage store, and the paint shop, as well as the old open-sided wood storage shed that had been reused as a warehouse by the C.C.C., have been in use since the war, presently serving the 104th Division of the army reserves. These buildings are located on part of the Hudson's Bay Company garden and orchard site.

Widening Highway 99 and construction of an interchange road with U.S. Highway 830 in the southwest corner in the late 1950s led to alterations on the west edge of the reserve. About 150 feet was taken for the highway widening in the former quartermaster's depot area, resulting in the loss of two buildings along its west edge, and bringing the boundary within thirty feet of the old 1909 infantry stables which was then being used for motor vehicle storage.

Above East Fifth Street, about two hundred feet of the west edge of the reserve was given over to highway right-of-way, resulting in the demolition or removal of all structures west of the hospital, including the old guard house. The 1919 non-commissioned officers' quarters was moved further south and east on the block it occupied, and re-oriented to face the highway. Two 1930s brick duplexes were moved across Hathaway Road and sited the across from the 1904 artillery barracks. Some of the older NCO quarters in that block were demolished; two older buildings, the 1880s hospital steward's quarters, and the 1907 the hospital corps sergeants quarters were moved north of the 1904 artillery barracks, just south of McClelland Road.

East of McLoughlin Road, the 1880s infantry barracks along McClelland Road were demolished, along with most of the mess buildings: by 1955 the only buildings remaining on the south edge of McClelland were the 1892 chapel and a 1935 office building. North of McClelland Road, the easternmost double infantry barracks, built in 1903-4, and the old regimental headquarters of the 7th Infantry, were demolished; the three remaining double-infantry barracks and the old administration building remained standing. Other structures still standing in that area by 1955 included the 1919 motor repair shop; the much altered 1890s laundry; the 1904-5 gymnasium; most of the structures in the quartermaster's yard; three mess hall buildings erected in the 'teens; a 1940s barracks building, moved onto the the site and located east of the motor repair shop, and a 1941 building erected as a finance office. Many of the original functions had been changed; for example one of the mess halls was used as a "tap room;" by 1972 many were in use by the Washington National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserves. With the exception of two warehouses to the east, everything east of the 1906-7 barracks building east of the old administration building had been demolished. The road and planting patterns from the previous period were intact to the demolition line; east of that, the roads were removed. Most of the aforementioned structures, with the exception of the laundry, still stand today, and are included in the Vancouver Barracks historic district, determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Pearson Airpark

In 1947-48 the City of Vancouver extended its runways to connect with the turf runways on the military reservation to the east; the upper runway crossed the site of the Hudson's Bay Company stockade. The lower runway initially extended only as far as the municipal airport's former boundary with the military reservation, but by late 1948 it was extended 1,870 feet further west, to terminate in a line parallel with the old CCC buildings south of the rail spur. A turf taxiway was built on municipal land to connect the two runways. By May of 1947, three new hangars had been built just south of East Fifth Street to the west of the former army air force office. The great Columbia River flood of June, 1948, inundated both runways. By October of that year, airplanes were parked on the stockade site.

By 1955, the upper runway terminated at the very edge of the city and park service boundary, less than fifty feet from the location of the stockade's 1844-46 northeast corner. The lower runway was situated approximately 250 feet south of the location 1844-46 stockade wall. By that time, two 200 foot long hangers had been built in the area north of the upper runway, between the National Monument land and the office structures of the airpark. After the City of Vancouver and the Department of the Interior signed the February, 1962 agreement reducing the city's avigation easement over the stockade site, the use of the upper runway was curtailed, allowing the Park Service to begin reconstruction of the east and north walls of the stockade in 1966. That year, the lower runway was paved. During the negotiations of the agreement which led to the National Park Service purchase of the west half of the land under Pearson Airpark in 1972, the City agreed to terminate use of its turf runway, and to halt flights directly over the stockade site. In the '60s and '70s most of the older hangars along East Fifth Street were removed, but the Airpark erected seven additional 200 foot-long hangars east of the stockade site between 1962 and 1972.

As of 1987, there were twenty-four structures associated with the airpark; one city hangar has since burned. There are a total of twenty-three structures today, excluding the 3,200 foot-long paved runway and parallel taxiway, and aircraft parking aprons. Three of these-possibly four--are older than fifty years. One--the old ordnance storehouse, later the air corps storehouse--dates to before the establishment of the army airfield. One, the former squadron headquarters, originally a spruce mill building, also pre-dates the airfield, and was moved to the site in 1928-29. The third is the temporary hangar which was moved to the its present location in 1925 to serve as a storehouse/hangar. All of the structures have been altered, and one is in very poor condition. There is, in addition, a small gable-roofed building just north of the storehouse/hangar, which was not listed in the 1987 Master Plan Report list of facilities at the airpark, probably because it is now, and no doubt was then, in a dilapidated state. [1225] This building may have been the original army airfield office, a 1918 spruce mill building, moved to the site around 1925, and situated opposite the air corps headquarters.

(click on image for an enlargement in a new window)