Fort Stevens adventure park 1.

Sandy I are had a great lunch (fish and chips) and did I mention the $.25 cookies?  Now that we are recharged it's time to explore Fort Stevens.  Fort Stevens was originally set up during the Civil War to protect the Union (the North) from an invasion from Canada in case the British decided to side with the South in the Civil War.  It was an active fort from 1863 to the end of WWII.

The fort has a few building still in tack like the guardhouse (see below)  but most of the buildings were scrapped for supplies during WWII.  Both Sandy and I were particularly interested in the commissary but that was long gone.   

Fort Stevens is on the strategic location to the mouth of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean.  From 1904 to 1944 various batteries were built at Fort Stevens to protect the entrance to the Columbia River.  The first battery we visited was Battery Russell.  Battery Russell is open for exploring. 

Battery Russell looks good for an old building. 

Lots of areas to explore. I am glad an experienced adventurer like Sandy is here to help me explore.

Should we go?

So the batteries were designed as two story structures.  The top floor had the long range guns and the bottom floor has the storage.  There were control rooms, ammunition storage, and crew quarters. 

Periodically you would see a shaft in the battery. The ammunition was stored below so they had hooks in the concrete to lift the ammunition from the first to the second floors. 

Lots of shelves built into the concrete structure.

The park staff has put some chains around the pits where the guns were stored.  The guns at Battery Russell were dismantled and sent to Europe during WWII and/or scrapped for parts. 

Just two friends hanging out at the battery. 

There were all of these low building built into the earth (kind of) where soldiers would watch for ships trying to enter the Columbia. There were batteries on the Oregon side and also on the Washington entrance to the Columbia. 

Finally, the Columbia was once view-able from these low buildings but after the fort was decommissioned they let the trees grow and blocked out the view of the Columbia.

Don't worry friends there is more to explore at Fort Stevens.  Stay tuned.

s