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I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

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38
Fort Simcoe Historical State Park
38

Fort Simcoe Historical State Park

west of White Swan, Washington
visited 22 May 2021
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Fort Simcoe was built to support the European expansion into Washington Territory in the 1850s, but was only actively used as a fort for a few years. Today, under an arrangement with the Yakama Nation, it serves as one of the few remaining preserved settlements in our area from that time.

The grounds and some of the residences are largely as you might imagine them to have been when the fort was first constructed.

A wide panorama of a broad green parade ground at Fort Simcoe Historical State Park under an overcast gray sky, with a row of white historic fort buildings nestled among a line of leafy trees in the distance and larger trees framing the right edge.
A white historic cottage with a cedar-shingle roof, two brick chimneys, and a covered front porch holding two wooden benches, set among large oak trees under an overcast sky. A small stone marker reading “Captain’s Quarters” sits in the mowed grass in front of the building.
A white historic two-story wood-frame house with a steep shingled roof and covered porch sits among a grove of large mature oak trees at Fort Simcoe Historical State Park near White Swan, Washington. A gravel path curves through the green grassy grounds beneath an overcast sky, with other historic buildings visible in the background.
A weathered wooden bench sits on the covered wooden porch of a white clapboard building at Fort Simcoe, with a large oak tree in the foreground and leafy branches framing the scene under overcast light.
A double-hung multi-pane window with a peaked wooden lintel and white frame set into a white-painted vertical board-and-batten wall. Patterned lace or patterned curtains are visible behind the glass, and the aged paint shows cracking and weathering.
A row of historic white clapboard buildings with steep gabled roofs, covered porches, brick chimneys, and multi-pane windows stand on a green lawn, framed by large leafy oak trees under an overcast gray sky at Fort Simcoe Historical State Park.
A weathered log cabin with a covered front porch and moss-covered shingled roof stands in a broad green meadow, framed by large oak trees under a heavy overcast gray sky. A small interpretive sign and a picnic table sit nearby on the grassy field at Fort Simcoe Historical State Park.

Outside the forest that immediately surrounds the barracks and residences, there are expansive views of the surrounding landscape and a few of the lookout structures:

A wide panorama of high-desert grassland dotted with silvery sagebrush, with a line of dark green oak trees on the left and distant low hills under a heavy, overcast gray sky.
A weathered wooden blockhouse with a pyramidal shingled roof stands in a grassy field dotted with small white wildflowers, backed by a dense line of green oak trees under an overcast gray sky.
The interior of a weathered log cabin at Fort Simcoe Historical State Park, framed by a doorway of thick, cracked hewn timbers. Simple wooden benches line the dirt-floored room, and an open doorway at the back looks out onto a green, scrub-covered hillside.
A meadow of silvery sagebrush dotted with purple lupine wildflowers under an overcast gray sky, with a line of green oak trees along the horizon and a white farmhouse-style building partly hidden among them.

The officer’s quarters were not open for tours at the time I visited, but by pressing my phone up to the windows, I could get some pretty nice pictures of a few rooms inside:

A restored 19th-century parlor interior with a tall Gothic-arched wooden bookcase, a dark marble fireplace, and a framed portrait of a mustached man on the pale wall. A small round table set with teacups and wooden chairs stands on a woven rug, viewed across the keyboard of an antique piano in the foreground.
The interior entryway of a historic wooden building at Fort Simcoe, with a worn plank floor, a long wooden bench along the left wall, and a paneled front door flanked by diamond-latticed sidelight windows that glow with daylight. A small red “Not An Exit” sign hangs above the door, and a banister and display case are visible to the right.
A dimly lit, period-furnished dining room with pale green walls at Fort Simcoe Historical State Park, showing a wooden table set with transferware plates, glassware, silverware, candlesticks, and an ornate teapot, surrounded by antique wooden chairs, with a sideboard holding a lamp and bottles against the wall and an open wooden door leading to a brighter room.
A built-in cupboard with several painted wooden shelves displaying a collection of antique white ironstone china, each piece decorated with a small coppery-brown floral motif. The pieces include stacked plates, platters, serving dishes with lids, bowls, a teapot, a creamer, an egg cup, and a sugar bowl.

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