The Night Fort Townsend Burned
A lamp explosion, a magazine full of cartridges, and a town’s fear that the Army would leave.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Port Townsend, Jan. 20.—The barracks and commissary department at Fort Townsend were burned to the ground last night, nearly all the soldiers’ personal effects and camp equipage being lost. The flames also ignited the ammunition magazine, and several thousand cartridges exploded, but did no injury. The fire was caused by the explosion of a lamp. The buildings were very old and dilapidated. The loss is about $6,000.
The people of Port Townsend are apprehensive lest the war department will decline to replace the burned buildings and order the troops to some other barracks. Such a recommendation was recently made and favorably considered. The site here is the finest on Puget Sound for a military post and in close proximity to the frontier, so as to assist in repelling an enemy in time of war. The site consists of 640 acres, partly cleared and improved land.
“The people of Port Townsend are apprehensive lest the war department will decline to replace the burned buildings and order the troops to some other barracks.”
Fort Townsend’s 1895 fire threatened more than buildings: it put a federal payroll and a frontier garrison in doubt. Today the site is Fort Townsend State Park, a reminder that military spending—and the fear of losing it—has long shaped Puget Sound communities.
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