As you drive north out of the bustling West Coast metropolis of Seattle, Washington’s beauty begins to reveal itself. Taking Interstate 5 out of the city, you’ll find Puget Sound with its numerous archipelagos and quiet bays, including Skagit Bay on the northern tip of this serene area. Goat Island sits amidst its waters, with Fort Whitman tucked far away from view, a silent witness from a bygone era.
Long overgrown by trees and ferns, Fort Whitman has been abandoned since the aftermath of World War II, but its inception dates back to 1909. To the modern visitor, it may be quite an enigma to understand what the military aimed at. With Washington so far removed from any potential enemies in this corner of the North Pacific, the answers lie obscured by history now largely forgotten.
But with Puget Sound forming a strategic inlet leading to Seattle and the nearby Bremerton naval base, the U.S Navy had concerns at the turn of the 20th century that the growing Russian and Japanese navies might one day venture too far. So several large forts were built overlooking the key passes that granted access to the Seattle area, including Fort Ebey, now a 651-acre scenic escape. They formed what would be termed a “triangle of fire,” a system of defensive positions for artillery. The smaller Fort Whitman was built for similar reasons, to protect Deception Pass.
Fort Whitman’s life and legacy
Fort Whitman was built during the Endicott Period, when a great amount of modernization was taking place across the U.S military’s coastal defences. Defined by the advent of reinforced concrete fortifications and larger artillery — those strong walls can still be seen on Goat Island — Fort Whitman was completed in 1911, tiny yet mighty. It boasted four modern 6-inch guns that could fire and disappear behind into concrete bunkers, which the garrison never ended up needing to use on any enemy forces…