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The Fort Nisqually Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit corporation registered as a charitable organization in the state of Washington. We are the fundraising entity helping to support the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, a restored 19th century Hudson’s Bay Company trading post and living history museum.

Fort Nisqually, the first globally connected settlement on the Puget Sound, was established in 1833 by the Hudson’s Bay Company as a fur trading outpost. The decline of the fur trade meant that Fort Nisqually’s focus shifted to commercial agricultural enterprises with the establishment of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC) in 1839. Based at Fort Nisqually, the PSAC raised cattle, sheep, and horses along with crops such as wheat, barley, oats, and peas across the 160,000 acres claimed by the company. By 1855, the date the museum portrays, this British establishment was surrounded by American territory and faced increasing pressure from settlers who wanted the farmable land for their own use. The Hudson’s Bay Company sold its holdings to the United States government, withdrawing from Washington Territory in 1869, and Fort Nisqually became the homestead of the last manager, Edward Huggins. Fort Nisqually was originally located in what is now DuPont, WA. The Fort you see today was reconstructed in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Civic-minded citizens preserved and donated two of the original structures, the Factor’s House and Granary, to the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma. The museum gives residents and visitors a chance to experience what life was like on Puget Sound in 1855.

There are more than 3000 artifacts on display in Dioramas, Showcases, and free standing exhibits. Among them is a display describing the life of former Governor Dr. Dixy Lee Ray, a Mosquito Fleet display, Indian artifacts, rotating exhibits, a reference room, Book Nook, and Museum Store.

We are a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Franklin County’s past. The Society has been collecting artifacts and information that tell the history of Franklin County since its inception in 1968. Countless volunteer and staff hours have been spent working to increase the public knowledge of our local history.