Flickering lights will illuminate several chapters of history when Fort Vancouver debuts a pair of Saturday lantern tours later this month.
The monthly tours begin tonight with “Walking Vancouver Barracks,” which explores the former U.S. Army base.
“An Evening at the Fort” starts on Oct. 28. Visitors will be guided through several buildings within the reconstructed 19th-century Hudson’s Bay Company fort.
Most of the tours will include vignettes featuring costumed re-enactors, said Scott Irwin, a park guide at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
TOUR SCHEDULE
Walking Vancouver Barracks: Today, Nov. 18, Jan. 20, Feb. 3
An Evening at the Fort: Oct. 28, Nov. 25, Dec. 16, Jan. 27, Feb. 17
Information: go.usa.gov/xnaqu or 360-816-6216
The one exception is Saturday’s series-opening walk through Vancouver Barracks. Tour leaders will explain the role of the former Army post through different eras of history. It was established in 1849 and was turned over to the National Park Service in 2012.
The Vancouver Barracks walks in November, January and February (there won’t be a December walk) will include vignettes featuring the old guard house, the Vancouver Arsenal, Capt. Ulysses Grant’s time here as quartermaster and the World War I spruce mill that produced lumber for warplanes.
Each Vancouver Barracks walk is limited to 40 participants.
The Vancouver Barracks tours will require walking through grass and uneven surfaces at night and in inclement weather, including rain and mud; as a result, this tour is recommended for visitors without mobility restrictions.
The route for “An Evening at the Fort” will go through the reconstructed fort’s counting house, fur store, chief factor’s house, kitchen and bake house.
In each building, visitors will experience historical vignettes with costumed living history interpreters, including graduates of the park’s youth volunteer programs.
“The vignettes will be set up around a story line about a ball,” held when Capt. Thomas Baillie and HMS Modeste visited Fort Vancouver, Irwin said.
Each group for “An Evening at the Fort” is limited to 90 participants.
Tour reservations are required; payment must be made at the time of the reservation. Fees are $20 for adults and $10 for children 15 and under. National Park Passes do not cover this special program.
For reservations, call the Friends of Fort Vancouver bookstore, 360-816-6216.
The tours last about 90 minutes and tour routes are about a mile in length; the tours are recommended for children 10 and older.
Both lantern tours meet at the entrance gate to the reconstructed Fort Vancouver, 1001 E. Fifth Street. All tours start at 7 p.m. All adult participants will carry their own candle lanterns and tour with a park ranger.
Participants should arrive by 6:45 p.m. The Fort Vancouver parking lot will open at 6:30 p.m.
