Fort Columbia

Location (military name): Fort Columbia
Harbor: Columbia River
Location: Chinook Point
Years active military: 1899-1947

Fort Columbia 1937

Fort Columbia 1913

Notes/History/Post-coast artillery military use/Comments: Property was transferred to State of Washington in 1950s.

Current Status:
Current name of site: Fort Columbia State Park
Public Owners/Agency: State of Washington Dept. Rec. & Parks
Public accessibility: Yes
Museum/Interpretive Center: yes
Other Facilities: day use park, vacation rental housing

Park Hours: Summer: 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Winter: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Fort Columbia State Park is a 593-acre day-use historical park with 6,400 feet of freshwater shoreline on the Columbia River. The park celebrates a military site that constituted the harbor defense of the Columbia River from 1896 to 1947. The fort was fully manned and operational through three wars. The area was also home for the Chinook Indians and their famed Chief Comcomly. Most of the buildings and structures remain and are open to the public. Two 6-inch guns on M1 shielded barbette carriages were brought from Canada and installed in Battery 246 in 1994. Vacation houses are available for rent year round. In 2008 the state has removed overgrown vegetation and a number of trees from the site, and has finished a renovation program on the buildings, which included remodeling the interiors of some of the buildings for use as vacation housing rentals, re-roofing with all the buildings with new slate, and repainting the exteriors.