Fort Worden

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Fort Worden was a United States Army installation (1902-1953) located in the Victorian seaport of Port Townsend, Washington, United States. It was one of three artillery installations built around Admiralty Inlet at the beginning of the 20th century to protect Puget Sound from hostile naval activity. Though its guns never fired a hostile shot and were removed during World War I for use in Europe, Fort Worden was used for training a variety of military personnel and for other defense purposes. The grounds and many of the military structures have been left intact, having been used from 1957 to 1971 as a state-run diagnostic and treatment center for juvenile delinquents, and since 1973 as a state park and convention center of the same name. Fort Worden was named after U.S. Navy Rear Admiral John Lorimer Worden, commander of the USS Monitor during the American Civil War.

Admiralty Inlet was considered so strategic to the defense of Puget Sound in the 1890s that three forts, Fort Worden, Fort Flagler, and Fort Casey, were built at the entrance with huge guns creating a "Triangle of Fire" that could theoretically thwart any invasion attempt by sea. Fort Worden, on the Quimper Peninsula, at the extreme northeastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, sits on a bluff above near Port Townsend, anchoring the northwest side of the triangle.

These three posts, established in the late 1890s, became the first line of a fortification system known as the "Triangle of Fire" and were designed to prevent a hostile fleet from reaching such targets as the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett.

Construction on Fort Worden began in 1897 and continued in one form or another until the fort was closed in 1953.

Construction work on the fortifications above Point Wilson was delayed until July 1897. The property was privately owned and the government had to clear title to the land through condemnation proceedings. The Army Corps of Engineers took charge of building the construction dock, warehouses, and a tramway to haul concrete for the gun emplacements from the dock to the mixing plant. To meet construction needs, the Army laid a pipeline from Port Townsend and pumped water into large storage tanks inside the fort. The arrival of wet winter weather slowed progress on the batteries. It took 200 men almost three years to complete the excavation and concrete work for the gun emplacements.

In March 1900, the fort was ready for installation of the initial armaments. Sixteen artillery pieces, shipped from the armory at Columbus, Ohio, arrived from Tacoma by barge. A special tramway was constructed to haul the heavy artillery pieces from the dock area to top of the bluff. In March 1901 the guns were moved to their assigned positions and mounted in the batteries, ready for test firing.

Fort Worden was activated in 1902. The 126th Coast Artillery Company, consisting of 87 soldiers, commanded by Captain Manus McCloskey, was the first detachment assigned to Fort Worden. They arrived from Seattle on board the steamer SS Majestic on May 3, 1902, and were quartered in tents pending the completion of the barracks. Twenty-three permanent buildings were under construction at a cost of $59,450. A communication system, connecting the three forts by cable, was installed in 1903.

On September 4, 1904, the headquarters of the Harbor Defense Command of Puget Sound was transferred from Fort Flagler to Fort Worden along with the 6th Artillery Band. Once work on the main batteries and army post had been completed, more troops were assigned there. By the fall of 1905, Fort Worden was fully staffed with four Coast Artillery companies, and the harbor defense system, costing approximately $7.5 million, was considered complete and operational. The initial armaments consisted of six gun emplacements: Batteries Ash, Powell, Brannon, Quarles, Randol, and Vicars. Between 1905 and 1910, six additional gun emplacements were added: Batteries Tolles, Stoddard, Benson, Putnam, Walker, and Kinzie. When completed, Fort Worden had 41 artillery pieces, completing its part of the "Triangle of Fire": two 12-inch disappearing guns, two 12-inch barbette guns, two 10-inch disappearing guns, five 10-inch barbette guns, eight 6-inch disappearing guns, two 5-inch pedestal guns, four 3-inch pedestal guns, and sixteen 12-inch mortars.

During World War I, the complement at Fort Worden was greatly expanded as soldiers arrived for training prior to being sent to European battlefields. To keep up with the demand, construction of new barracks and buildings continued throughout the war. Thirty-six of the fort's 41 artillery pieces were dismantled and shipped to European battlefields. After World War I, the fort's staffing was reduced to 50 officers and 884 enlisted men. Aircraft and balloons began to claim an important role in Puget Sound's defensive strategy, diminishing the role of coastal artillery. In the 1920s, a balloon hangar was built at Fort Worden at a cost of $85,000. During this time, some of the batteries were modernized and made "bomb-proof."

During World War II, Fort Worden remained the headquarters of the Harbor Defense Command and it was jointly operated by the Army and the Navy. The fort was home to the 14th Coast Artillery Regiment of the U.S. Army, the 248th Regiment of the Washington National Guard, the 2nd Amphibious Engineers, and miscellaneous U.S. Navy personnel. The Army operated radar sites and coordinated Canadian and U.S. defense activities in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound. The Navy, responsible for the detection and identification of all vessels entering and leaving Puget Sound, monitored new underwater sonar and sensing devices. Most of the gun emplacements were modified for anti-aircraft guns, which replaced the outdated coastal artillery pieces. Fort Worden personnel also manned batteries and fire control towers at the Cape George Military Reservation, six miles southwest of Port Townsend on the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the entrance to Discovery Bay.

After World War II, the Coast Artillery units at Fort Worden were disbanded and the gun batteries were dismantled. It remained active as an administrative unit until June 30, 1953, when the Harbor Defense Command was deactivated and the fort officially closed, ending fifty-one years of military jurisdiction. On July 1, 1957, the State of Washington purchased Fort Worden for $127,533 for use as a diagnostic and treatment center for troubled youths.

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission acquired most of Fort Worden on September 30, 1971, when the state closed the juvenile treatment center. The 433-acre Fort Worden State Park was opened on August 18, 1973.

The state park also includes the Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum, and a balloon hangar that was used for airships. In addition, three 3-inch anti-aircraft gun emplacements are here, as are several restored quarters on Officers' Row. The Point Wilson Lighthouse is also located here. The 1982 movie, An Officer and a Gentleman, was filmed at Ford Worden, as well as the 2002 film "The Ring."

Coastal artillery batteries located at Fort Worden were:

Battery Brannon (1901 - 1943);
Battery Powell (1901 - 1943);
Battery Ash (1900 - 1942);
Battery Kinzie (1910 - 1944);
Battery Benson (1907 - 1943);
Battery Quarles (1900 - 1941);
Battery Randol (1900 - 1918);
Battery Stoddard (1906 - 1917);
Battery Tolles (1905 - 1943), two guns removed in 1918;
Battery Tolles B (1937 - 1946);
Battery Vicars (1902 - 1917);
Battery Putnam (1907 - 1945);
Battery Walker (1907 - 1946);
AMTB Battery Point Wilson (1943 - 1946), of which one gunblock is now in the surf.