Commanding Officer’s Quarters

The Quarters lives...the occupants have just stepped out for a few moments.

Military History in a Victorian Style

The Commanding Officer’s Quarters is one of Fort Worden’s finest buildings. It was completed in April 1904, and many different families resided here. Located at the head of Officers’ Row, the Commanding Officer’s Quarters overlooks Admiralty Inlet, with Mt. Baker and the Cascades in the background. Late Victorian and Edwardian furnishings provide a unique glimpse into the life of a senior U. S. Army officer and his family in the first decade of the 20th century.

Special features of the Commanding Officer’s Quarters include the cross-gabled slate roof, with fancy chimneys and decorated boxed cornices; fireplaces in the parlor, dining room and study; and built-in cabinets in the dining room with glass doors. The nearly 6,000 square foot quarters also has 10 foot high pressed tin ceilings, pocket doors, Palladian windows, and brass chandeliers.

From the large veranda, one can picture sailing ships and tall-stacked steamers passing to anchorage and docks in Port Townsend or heading west towards the Pacific. The Quarters lives...the occupants have just stepped out for a few moments. Reading glasses lie on an opened book, and children’s toys are scattered on the bedroom floor. Dinner guests are expected, and the dining room is set with fine china and linens. While in the kitchen, the cook is busy preparing this evening’s dinner.

As advertised in a Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog: “The Majestic is designed for durability, efficiency, and convenience.”

Before leaving, stand on the veranda overlooking the parade ground and imagine soldiers in their dress blues on parade and the U.S. Army band playing John Philip Sousa’s 1896 march, The Stars and Stripes Forever.

Fort Worden

Fort Worden is an early 20th century U. S. Army, Coast Artillery Corps, fort. The Fort, as headquarters for the Puget Sound Harbor Defenses, held a strategically important position in the triangle of defensive forts constructed to protect the entrance to Puget Sound and to safeguard the naval shipyard at Bremerton. Twelve gun batteries stand as mute testimony to the Fort’s original purpose.

When Fort Worden was commissioned in 1902, there were no permanent buildings to house the troops. The men were billeted in tents atop Artillery Hill, until the first 23 buildings were constructed around the parade ground in 1904. Ultimately, 228 main buildings and subsidiary structures were constructed—including barracks, officers’ quarters, administration buildings, kitchen and mess halls, a bakery, guard house, hospital, power house, signal station, and wharf.

Most military buildings of this era are long gone, but Fort Worden’s have been preserved. These surviving quarters are excellent examples of the attractive order, style, and grace of the new century. The designs were done by the U. S. Army Quartermaster Department in order to make life more bearable for its soldiers in the often isolated posts.

Fort Worden is on the state and national Register of Historic Places and has been declared a National Historic Landmark.

The Commanding Officer's Quarters overlooks Admiralty Inlet with the Cascades in the background.	Docents walking along Fort Worden's Officer's Row in period uniform and ensemble.	The museum is located at the head of Officers' Row. Built in April of 1904.