Fort Lawton

Barracks and Headquarters at Fort Lawton, 1907 (University of Washington Archives)

Fort Lawton (1900-1970) - established On February 9, 1900 to protect Puget Sound from naval attack. The fort is named after Major General Henry Ware Lawton (1843-1899), who was killed in action in the Philippines. He was a veteran of the U.S. Civil War and of the Indian Wars.

The Seattle Chamber of Commerce launched a canvass of donations of land and cash and in February 1898, turned over to the U.S. Army title to 703 acres. Construction of buildings and roads began in June 1898. The first soldiers arrived in December 1899.

Originally planned as a fortification, the first Coast Artillery unit did not arrive at Fort Lawton until July 1901, and guns were installed only temporarily. Fort Worden and Fort Flagler near Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula and Fort Casey on Whidbey Island were built for heavy guns as the first and second lines of defense, and Fort Lawton would be the third line of defense. In May 1902, the Fort became an Infantry post and although it was designed to accommodate a full regiment (approximately 3,500 men), it rarely saw more than a headquarters and one battalion. In 1927, the fort was converted to a Corps of Engineers installation.

Fort Lawton became part of the Port of Embarkation, San Francisco, during World War II. A total of 1.1 million troops passed through the installation during and after the war and 1,150 German prisoners of war were housed there. After World War II, Fort Lawton was used as an Air Force radar site, a surface-to-air Nike missile site, and a training center.

The site of Fort Lawton remained in military hands until 1970, when it was turned over to the City of Seattle and became Discovery Park.

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Location: Discovery Park, Seattle, Washington Maps & Images Lat: 47.6570 Long: -122.4182 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation:

Links:

• Wikipedia
• Fort
• History Link
• Seattle

Publications:

• Cornelius H. Hanford, Seattle and Environs, 1852-1924 (Seattle and Chicago: Pioneer Historical Publishing Co., 1924), pp. 243-244
• Cornelius H. Hanford, Welcome to Fort Lawton: Newcomers Pamphlet (Seattle: Marquan Military Publishing Co., ca. 1961);

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