Tour Historic Fort Steilacoom museum

Fort Steilacoom in Lakewood is a history museum where guests of all ages can explore military life of enlisted soldiers, officers, the families of soldiers, civilians that worked for the garrison and those that visited from the community.

From the U.S. Army’s arrival in 1849 until its departure in 1868, many soldiers and civilians brought the post to life with their daily tasks and calls to duty. As you tour the museum’s buildings, museum interpreters will help you connect with those that came before us and their everyday lives.

Note - if tickets don't seem to be available for the first time you look at, please look at other times. We tend to get a large number of people in the first tour, and have lots of room in the second and third tours. For example, during one random week, we had five parties coming at 1:30 for a total of eight visitors - and no one booked for our 2:30 tours. So feel free to look for times besides the first time you see.

It has always been free to visit JUST the first of our four buildings, the interpretive center. So you can show up anytime during our open hours, though please do bear in mind we close at 4. This does not guarantee you will be able to get a tour of all four buildings should you want to do that.

You can learn A LOT more about the fort, its significance and operations here: https://historicfortsteilacoom.org/

Historic Fort Steilacoom exists on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish Peoples whose ancestors resided here since time immemorial and have stewarded this land throughout the generations. We offer our respect to their elders past and present.

Our association acknowledges the complex history of the Fort and its role in the colonization of the area. We are actively working to incorporate the diverse perspectives and experiences of all individuals and communities who interacted with the Fort.

BLUE STAR GUESTS: We continue to welcome active duty military members and their immediate family for free on a space-available basis. Advance tickets are no longer needed. Just come between 1 and 3, and assuming space is available, which it almost always is, we'll be happy to take you on the next available tour.

ACCESSIBILITY: We cannot recommend the building tour for people in wheelchairs unless they can walk unassisted for a period of time. There are three to four steps to reach the porches of buildings, and 1857 hallways and doors are narrow.

DIRECTIONS: Please be sure to use the street address 9601 Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest if you are using mapping software. If you just put in the name of our museum, there's a good chance that you'll get directions across the street to the park that got its name from the fort. But we are not located at the park. So please use the street address.

Please don't be the person driving around the park getting angry because you can't find the fort. The fort is outside the park. We are on the old military parade grounds that form the front yard of Western State Hospital.

Unlike "first forts" in 49 other states, we operate entirely with volunteers and get no guaranteed support for daily maintenance, operations and education. That's partly why we have such limited open hours. So volunteers and donations are always welcome.