Fort Lawton
Encyclopedia
Fort Lawton is a United States Army
fort located in the Magnolia
neighborhood of Seattle
, Washington. The fort was included in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list
.
from naval attack. Local citizens and governments donated 703 acres (2.8 km²) land to the United States Army for the installation the next year.
Fort Lawton was named after Maj. Gen. Henry Ware Lawton
(1843–1899), a veteran of the American Civil War
, the Indian Wars
, and Spanish-American War
campaigns who was killed in action in the Philippines. The fort opened on February 9, 1900 on a 1,100 acre (4.5 km²) site, which was redesigned in 1902 for infantry use. In 1910 a design overhaul, to include housing for officers and enlisted men, was prepared by landscape architect John C. Olmsted. In 1938, the Army offered to sell Fort Lawton back to the city of Seattle for one dollar, but the city declined, citing maintenance concerns.
At least 20,000 troops were stationed at Fort Lawton at a time during World War II
, with over 1 million troops passing through both before and after the war. The post was also used as a Prisoner of War (POW) camp, with more than 1,000 Germans imprisoned there and approximately 5,000 Italians passing through en route to Hawaii for imprisonment. On August 15, 1944 an Italian POW, Guglielmo Olivotto, was found murdered at Fort Lawton after a night of rioting
between Italian POWs and American soldiers. Twenty-eight African-American soldiers were later court-martialed, convicted of the crime, and sent to prison. The convictions were set aside in 2007. A formal army apology ceremony was held on July 26, 2008 and to present to the relatives of former soldiers and the two remaining survivors years of back pay following the overturn of their dishonorable discharges.
On Memorial Day 1951, a grove of trees and monument honoring the war dead was dedicated near the post chapel. The Korean War brought a flurry of activity as troops headed to or returned from Korea processed through Fort Lawton. In February 1953, the Fort Lawton Processing Center transferred half of its functions, the out-bound tasks, to Fort Lewis (now called Joint Base Lewis McChord). Returnees continued to process through Fort Lawton.
In the late 1950s, Nike anti-aircraft missiles and Air Force radars were in use at Fort Lawton, but in 1968 the site was rejected for proposed defense upgrades. The Army surplussed 534 acres (2.2 km²) in 1971, which was given back to the city in 1972, and dedicated as Discovery Park
in 1973.
Fort Lawton's family housing has been used by the U.S. Navy for Navy and Coast Guard personnel for more than 30 years. It is currently being vacated, with the officer and NCO housing scheduled to be sold to the public when the market improves. The Capehart Housing in the center of the park was vacated by Dec. 2009 and demolished during the summer of 2010; the land will become part of Discovery Park. Fort Lawton officially closed on Sept. 14, 2011, and the 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, the last U.S. Army Reserve tenant on the post, moved to its new facility in Marysville, Wash.
Source for buildings, construction dates, comments:
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
fort located in the Magnolia
Magnolia, Seattle, Washington
Magnolia is the second largest neighborhood of Seattle, Washington by area. It occupies a hilly peninsula northwest of downtown. Magnolia is isolated from the rest of Seattle, connected by road to the rest of the city by only three bridges over the tracks of the BNSF Railway: W. Emerson Place in...
neighborhood of Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Washington. The fort was included in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list
Base Realignment and Closure, 2005
The preliminary 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13, 2005. It is the fifth Base Realignment and Closure proposal generated since the process was created in 1988. It recommends closing 33 major United States military bases and...
.
History
In 1896, the Secretary of War selected what would later be Fort Lawton for construction of an artillery battery intended to defend Seattle and the south Puget SoundPuget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
from naval attack. Local citizens and governments donated 703 acres (2.8 km²) land to the United States Army for the installation the next year.
Fort Lawton was named after Maj. Gen. Henry Ware Lawton
Henry Ware Lawton
Henry Ware Lawton was a highly respected U.S. Army officer who served with distinction in the Civil War, the Apache Wars, the Spanish-American War and was the only U.S. general officer to be killed during the Philippine-American War...
(1843–1899), a veteran of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Indian Wars
Indian Wars
American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...
, and Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
campaigns who was killed in action in the Philippines. The fort opened on February 9, 1900 on a 1,100 acre (4.5 km²) site, which was redesigned in 1902 for infantry use. In 1910 a design overhaul, to include housing for officers and enlisted men, was prepared by landscape architect John C. Olmsted. In 1938, the Army offered to sell Fort Lawton back to the city of Seattle for one dollar, but the city declined, citing maintenance concerns.
At least 20,000 troops were stationed at Fort Lawton at a time during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, with over 1 million troops passing through both before and after the war. The post was also used as a Prisoner of War (POW) camp, with more than 1,000 Germans imprisoned there and approximately 5,000 Italians passing through en route to Hawaii for imprisonment. On August 15, 1944 an Italian POW, Guglielmo Olivotto, was found murdered at Fort Lawton after a night of rioting
Fort Lawton Riot
”The largest and longest U.S. Army court-martial of World War II took place at Seattle's Fort Lawton. 43 U.S. soldiers, all of them African-American, were charged with rioting; three were also charged with the lynching death of an Italian prisoner of war named Guglielmo Olivotto.Some resources ...
between Italian POWs and American soldiers. Twenty-eight African-American soldiers were later court-martialed, convicted of the crime, and sent to prison. The convictions were set aside in 2007. A formal army apology ceremony was held on July 26, 2008 and to present to the relatives of former soldiers and the two remaining survivors years of back pay following the overturn of their dishonorable discharges.
On Memorial Day 1951, a grove of trees and monument honoring the war dead was dedicated near the post chapel. The Korean War brought a flurry of activity as troops headed to or returned from Korea processed through Fort Lawton. In February 1953, the Fort Lawton Processing Center transferred half of its functions, the out-bound tasks, to Fort Lewis (now called Joint Base Lewis McChord). Returnees continued to process through Fort Lawton.
- see also: Fort Lawton Air Force StationFort Lawton Air Force StationFort Lawton Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located on Fort Lawton in the Magnolia neighborhood of northwest Seattle, Washington. The Air Force inactivated its unit in 1963; while the site remained under Army control until 1974...
In the late 1950s, Nike anti-aircraft missiles and Air Force radars were in use at Fort Lawton, but in 1968 the site was rejected for proposed defense upgrades. The Army surplussed 534 acres (2.2 km²) in 1971, which was given back to the city in 1972, and dedicated as Discovery Park
Discovery Park (Seattle)
Discovery Park is a 534 acre park in the peninsular Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is the city's largest public park and contains 11.81 miles of walking trails. United Indians of All Tribes' Daybreak Star Cultural Center is within the park's boundaries...
in 1973.
Fort Lawton's family housing has been used by the U.S. Navy for Navy and Coast Guard personnel for more than 30 years. It is currently being vacated, with the officer and NCO housing scheduled to be sold to the public when the market improves. The Capehart Housing in the center of the park was vacated by Dec. 2009 and demolished during the summer of 2010; the land will become part of Discovery Park. Fort Lawton officially closed on Sept. 14, 2011, and the 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, the last U.S. Army Reserve tenant on the post, moved to its new facility in Marysville, Wash.
The Historic District
The Fort Lawton Historic District (FLHD) in the heart of the Fort Lawton grounds contains numerous historic buildings and structures; numerous other buildings and structures have stood there in the past. The following list includes only buildings and structures that survived at least into the 1980s.| Official structure number |
Structure | Constructed | Comments | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 417 | Administration Building | 1902 | ||
| 640 | Double Officers Quarters | 1904 | ||
| 642 | Double Officers Quarters | 1904 | ||
| 644 | Double Officers Quarters | 1904 | ||
| 653 | Air Defense Operations Building | 1960 | torn down 2008 | |
| 654 | FAA Radar Building | ca. 1959 | torn down 2008 | Building 672 and 670 can also be seen at left, and 640–644 at right. |
| 655 | FAA Radar Antenna Dome | ca. 1959 | ||
| 670 | Single Officers Quarters | 1904 | ||
| 672 | Double Officers Quarters | 1899 | ||
| 676 | Double Officers Quarters | 1899 | ||
| 679 | Double Officers Quarters | 1899 | ||
| 681 | Reviewing Stand | 1900 | ||
| 730 | Double Barracks | 1904 | Destroyed by fire February 13, 1983 | |
| 731 | Double Barracks | 1899 | ||
| S-732 | Post Gymnasium | 1942 | ||
| 733 | Post Exchange and Gymnasium | 1905 | ||
| 734 | Band Barracks | 1904 | ||
| 735 | Bakehouse | 1902 | Bakery until ca. 1938, offices until ca. 1960, no longer exists | |
| 754 | Quartermaster Shops | 1905 | no longer exists | |
| 755 | Civilian Employees Quarters | 1908 | ||
| T-756 | Commissary Warehouse | 1939 | no longer exists | |
| 757 | Quartermaster Storehouse | 1899 | no longer exists | |
| 759 | Guard House | 1902 | ||
| T-760 | Storehouse | 1938 | Used at some point as a garage for a fire truck, no longer exists | |
| T-761 | Bus Stop | 1949 | Scenes from movie Expiration Date Expiration Date (film) Expiration Date is an independent black comedy film that won many film festival awards.-Plot summary:The story is told by a Native American elderly man to a Native American boy who wants to give up dancing and leave the reservation by bus... (released 2006), filmed at this location |
|
| 901 | Double NCO Quarters | 1933 | ||
| 902 | Double NCO Quarters | 1933 | ||
| 903 | Double NCO Quarters | 1904 | ||
| 904 | Single Family NCO Quarters | 1930s | Burned down approximately 2000 | |
| 905 | Double NCO Quarters | 1899 | ||
| 906 | Single NCO Quarters | 1902 | Former hospital steward's quarters; previously adjacent to post hospital, north east of administration building, moved to present location around WWII | |
| 907 | Double NCO Quarters | 1899 | ||
| 909 | Double NCO Quarters | 1904 | ||
| 915 | Quartermaster Storehouse | 1905 | no longer exists | |
| 915A | Addition to Quartermaster Storehouse | 1939 | no longer exists | |
| 915B | Bulk Storage Warehouse | 1938 | no longer exists | |
| 916 | Quartermaster Stables | 1908 | ||
| 917 | Quartermaster Stables | 1902 | ||
| S-918 | Post Engineer Facility and Vehicle Storage Building | 1904 | Later turned into a groundskeeper's building, no longer exists |
Source for buildings, construction dates, comments:
The Chapel
In addition, the chapel, which is outside the Historic District, has the status of a city landmark.External links
- Impromptu query for historical sites in Magnolia, Department of Neighborhoods (City of Seattle). Most of the listings are Fort Lawton buildings.