Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve Reading the Cultural Landscape

PRESERVATION PRINCIPLES

Fort Casey Uplands

Location and Access

The Fort Casey Uplands extend north from Admiralty Head between Ebey's and Crockett prairies. The Coastal Strip forms the southwest boundary.

The uplands are a mix of second-growth forests and scattered clearings of pasture or croplands.

Primary access is along Engle Road which cuts through the center of the area, Fort Casey Road along the east edge and Hill Road along the north.

Significance and Integrity

Five original donation land claims were taken in this upland area. Scattered throughout and tucked along edges of clearings are several historic buildings, barns, roads and other structures surviving from the period of early settlement. There are twelve contributing structures in the uplands including the complexes associated with Fort Casey and the military presence on the reserve over a fifty year period. Thirty buildings and structures from the military complex including gun emplacements, a light house (1901), barracks, officers' quarters, storage buildings, roads, paths, and stairways into empty fields remain in the contemporary landscape. As a whole, the remains of the complex are relatively intact, with portions under the jurisdiction of the state (Fort Casey State Park) and Seattle Pacific University (Camp Casey).

Open areas throughout the uplands are maintained to a large degree in agricultural use as they have been for a hundred years. With soils not as profitable as other areas on the reserve, smaller pastures and cropland areas developed between woodland stands and this structure influenced land use patterns. Although some new residential development is occurring and some forest areas have been cut, these basic land patterns remain.

Portions of the Fort Casey Uplands reflect historic patterns of early settlement and community development with a number of significant and contributing structures remaining in the landscape. The area as a whole retains enough of these elements to have integrity.

Squash barn on Engle Road, was built with lumber from the old grade school at Prairie Center.

Once housing officers at Fort Casey, these historic structures are still used as residences.

Preservation Principles

Preservation principles for the Fort Casey Uplands encourage protection and maintenance of remaining significant and historic landscape patterns and features.

1. In order to preserve historic landscape patterns and visual quality in the uplands, maintain the existing agricultural land use designation and all significant historic structures.

2. In order to support visual quality in the area, any new structures should be carefully sited along the edges of open areas and sensitive in design, scale and material to surrounding areas (see Design Considerations for Historic Properties, 1984).

3. Preserve and, when appropriate, incorporate into new development or interpretive features, historic remnants including old military structures, abandoned roads, and other small scale elements such as footpaths, lighting fixtures and plantings.