Info & Insights

  • Fort Worden Looks for a Purpose Between the World Wars Following World War I, Fort Worden, like the rest of the nation’s military installations, experienced a rapid and extensive draw down of troops. By 1926, the fort was officially placed in caretaker status with fewer than 400 officers and enlisted personnel stationed on site. The big guns that were brought… Read More
  • Fort Worden Makes Do During the Great Depression Soldiers and their families stationed at Fort Worden during the Great Depression of the 1930’s fared better than many. The economic collapse that left 15 million Americans out of work impacted the military as well. Like many of the military installations in the country, Fort Worden was reduced to caretaker… Read More
  • Fort Worden Remembers Memorial Day On a sunny Tuesday morning 80 years ago on the 30th of May, troops from Battery G, and the fort’s regimental band mustered in front of the Fort Worden movie theater in preparation for the annual Memorial Day service. The detail, comprising nearly 200 soldiers, stepped off precisely at 11:25am… Read More
  • Forced Wedding March Eighty years ago, weddings in Port Townsend had to come to grips with new Army regulations. Fort Worden had come out of its twenty year slumber that followed WWI, and the post was returning to life. Anti-aircraft guns were replacing the big guns on Artillery Hill and new recruits, both… Read More
  • The Life and Times of an Unwanted Balloon Hanger Fort Worden’s balloon hanger began as a boondoggle and wound up a windfall. Following World War I, it was evident to Army brass that Puget Sound’s “Triangle of Fire,” was no longer the imposing technological marvel it was touted to be. During the Great War, the development of balloons and… Read More
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