Fort Ward’s most stately structure, the Administration Building came with the first wave of permanent construction by the US Army Coast Artillery Corps in 1910 — that’s when all the fort’s distinctive brick buildings here in the “upper fort” went up.

Designed by military architects in the “Georgian Colonial Revival” style perhaps more familiar to the East Coast, it features two pairs of grand columns at its entrance and an imposing facade. A very impressive and “official” looking building.

Fort Ward actually has more 1910-era brick buildings – a total of 5 (or 6, if you count the giant mine storehouse at Middle Point) — than any of the other Puget Sound forts, even though the Port Blakely lumber mill was just down the hill.

This building served as the fort’s administrative center through the World War I era, while officers lived around the corner in what are now the Victorian Lane condominiums. Later, Victorian Lane became home to Non-Commissioned Officers.

When Fort Ward was reactivated in 1938 for use by the Navy, the building became the residence of various commanders including B.C. Purrington, who came to the fort after serving aboard the battleship Pennsylvania. Said to be a very quiet individual, he lived with his wife and a daughter.

The Administration Building with maid’s quarters adjacent (added 1942, during the Navy years), shown here in the late 1950s. Photo from of National Archives, Sand Point.