Last updated: September 8, 2020
Place
The Well
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
"The men are busily employed in sinking the old well near the granary, and in digging another one in the opposite end of the fort, near the new Bake House." - Thomas Lowe, Hudson's Bay Company clerk, February 27, 1845.
While the nearby Columbia River provided a reliable source of fresh water, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) excavated several wells within the stockade that provided water more conveniently to fort employees and guests. Historical accounts suggest that the employees preferred river water but found the taste of well water not "unwholesome."
The HBC constructed this well in 1845, and it is the only surviving structure of the HBC Fort Vancouver still visible above ground. Excavations by archaeologist Louis R. Caywood found that water-rounded boulders, some of them estimated to weigh 400 pounds, line the entire well shaft to below the water line, which is 30 feet below the ground surface.
It is not known if there was a structure covering the well. A historic photograph of the fort suggests that there was a well sweep pole rising up from behind the fort's Bachelor's Quarters, to the south of the Chief Factor's house. This reconstructed well sweep is a typical design for the time period. Historic photos also suggest that there was another possible well, with a hydrant-like mechanism set on a wooden cover on the other side of the nearby Bachelor's Quarters building. The structures built over these wells are assumed to have been aspects of a fire protection system.
While the nearby Columbia River provided a reliable source of fresh water, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) excavated several wells within the stockade that provided water more conveniently to fort employees and guests. Historical accounts suggest that the employees preferred river water but found the taste of well water not "unwholesome."
The HBC constructed this well in 1845, and it is the only surviving structure of the HBC Fort Vancouver still visible above ground. Excavations by archaeologist Louis R. Caywood found that water-rounded boulders, some of them estimated to weigh 400 pounds, line the entire well shaft to below the water line, which is 30 feet below the ground surface.
It is not known if there was a structure covering the well. A historic photograph of the fort suggests that there was a well sweep pole rising up from behind the fort's Bachelor's Quarters, to the south of the Chief Factor's house. This reconstructed well sweep is a typical design for the time period. Historic photos also suggest that there was another possible well, with a hydrant-like mechanism set on a wooden cover on the other side of the nearby Bachelor's Quarters building. The structures built over these wells are assumed to have been aspects of a fire protection system.