Welcome to the new website dedicated to the historic Fort Ward neighborhood – “the Little Fort at Bean Point” on Bainbridge Island, WA.
Our original site was dedicated to chronicling the restoration of Fort Ward’s historic bakery building, a project that spanned 2015-20 before the COVID pandemic put things on hold. With that project completed – successfully! – and the Fort Ward Community Hall now open, it’s time to establish a new site that looks at Fort Ward history generally and, perchance, future neighborhood and historic preservation projects.
Over the course of the bakery project, we collected many more historic resources to share. You’ll see this site build out over time, to be a reliable clearinghouse on the history of Fort Ward, Wash. (not to be confused of Fort Ward, Va. – there’s one in Virginia, too). Not just photos, but archival documents, newspaper stories and personal accounts that bring the Fort Ward story to life.
We also hope to add expansive sections on our sister forts around the sound – Fort Worden (Port Townsend), Fort Flagler (Marrowstone Island), Fort Casey (Whidbey Island) and perhaps even the largely forgotten Fort Whitman on tiny Goat Island.
Finally, our Resources section will highlight other organizations that make the appreciation of history and historic preservation their metier. Also, cool old forts you can visit to experience historic preservation firsthand. You may not get over to Fort DuPont, Del., anytime soon, but if you do, you’ll find a bakery building that should look familiar – it’s identical to ours. They’re fixing theirs up, too.
Thank you for visiting, and come back often and you may find something new about everything old at historic Fort Ward. Please contact us at [email protected].