Like Plimouth Planation, Fort Nisqually is a living history museum. Meaning that it is staffed by people in traditional garb who explain various facets of life at the time. We were there on a weekday when the staff was one lady in the Factor’s House (the manager’s house). The Factor’s House in one of the two original structures; the rest are reconstructions.
It was built in the mid-1800s by The Hudson Bay Company and given up when the USA took over this part of Washington by treaty. Homesteaded by the last clerk, a new American citizen, its life continued.
In the 1930s as part of The New Deal, a reconstruction was commenced in a new location. As with many historically significant projects of the day, the work was done by the WPA, employing the unemployed of the Great Depression.
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- The common area.
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- The Necessary. (Or as we call it, the outhouse.
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- Style of construction.
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- Corner post.
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- Not a fort in the military sense, Fort Nisqually was a post for collecting beaver pelts. These were compacted using a beaver press.
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- The beaver hat was all the rage in Europe.
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- The store.
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- Locals played Canadian Checkers. (I never heard of it either.)
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- Worker’s cabin.
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- The parlor in the manger’s house.
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- Bake oven.
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- Root Cellar for “refrigeration.”
