Workers broke ground on the Fort in 1897 and workers made $1.75 a day. Then the first garrison arrived in late 1899.
We traveled quite a bit with our kids when they were growing up, but every once in a while we go somewhere that I wish we could go back in time and visit again when the boys were little. Fort Casey is one of those places and I knew it as soon as we saw the first of three batteries: Worth, Moore & Kingsbury.
The first thing you notice is how big the three are. Then you notice the most awesome thing ever!
The first thing you notice is how big the three are. Then you notice the most awesome thing ever!
TWO BIG GUNS!
These two guns were already obsolete by the 1920s. They survived WWII at Fort Wint in the Philippines and were brought here in 1968.
But in 1910, a warship at top speed could pass through Battery Worth's range in only 15 minutes. On the other hand, an efficient crew could reload the gun in less than a minute. Two 81-pound bags of gunpowder were needed to launch a 617-pound projectile at 1544 miles per hour in order to hit a target nearly 8 miles away and penetrate steel armor 4-inches thick.
Gun #2 even has this cool captain's wheel. ;)
Big guns need big tools...
Gun #2 also has a super cool chalkboard for a game of Battleship with it's very own gun phone...
Talking tubes allowed communication between rooms...
The second super cool thing about Fort Casey is that Battery Worth has been painted and wired for electricity...
Battery Worth
Battery Moore
Painted...
Not painted...
Worth is like a museum, the others are a bit more rustic...
The brick in the powder room was in much better shape than at Worden. Men went into the powder room barefoot to eliminate sparks from static electricity that could ignite the gunpowder...
"The powder was blended, magazine temperatures were taken as tenderly as the pulse of a fair maid by a young doctor." Lt. Sheppard, 1915
original fuse box
this was the only recognizable bathroom we'd seen in a battery
Tunnel to Battery Kingsbury...
Battery Trevor also had a gun salvaged from the Philippines...
The long underground hallway that lead to the main communications center...
Various other buildings and guns around the fort...
Admiralty Head Lighthouse was built in 1902 and was used to direct ships until the 1920s...
It was not only the best of the lighthouses we saw all week but we also got to go inside...
The house had beautiful displays...
There were 700 of these libraries sent to lighthouse families in the mid 1800s
a shell cart used at the fort
Not surprising there were more batteries by the housing (now turned retreat center)...
Then we had to check out and ran out of time. But we'll go back someday to see the rest...
On the way home, we stopped at a brew house in Oak Harbor and a really good brewery and restaurant in Anacortes.
