Visited: Thursday, July 5th, 2012
Many of the NPS sites - maybe even most - comprise of a single location. Others span multiple sites, such as the Golden Gate NRA and Lewis & Clark NHP. Even when there are multiple sites, sometimes only one is of real appeal; others are clearly secondary.
And that looked like it might be the case with Fort Vancouver. The wonderful introductory video highlights five primary uses of the site over time - by the Chinook Indians, as a British fort, as a US Army site, as an early airport, and as a WWII ship factory. With all that history, there was a lot to do; our favorite stop was the Air Museum, which had a separate entry fee that was entirely paid for when the boys got to sit in a WWII-era Navy training plane.
But - there's another portion of the site, 30 minutes to the South. The original person responsible for Fort Vancouver, Dr. McLoughlin, was fired for not turning back Americans coming out along the Oregon Trail, and in fact giving them land in Oregon. And thus he ended up living in Oregon City, and eventually becoming a US citizen. And his house, preserved by one group or another since 1909, is part of the Fort Vancouver NPS Unit - and a real treasure. The tour we received was fantastic - and the house is amazing. The whole site is well worth visiting, but McLoughlin's house is the perfect way to end a day there. Note that the house closes earlier than the main site, and that you want to go on one of the tours.
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