06.01.06

Cantwell-Backed Bid to Place Vancouver Historic Reserve on National Register Clears Key Hurdle

Army Approves Entire Vancouver National Historic Reserve for Placement on Register

VANCOUVER, WA – Thursday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) applauded the Army’s approval of Vancouver’s bid to add the entire Vancouver National Historic Reserve to the National Register of Historic Places. In May, Cantwell wrote the Army in support of the Reserve’s nomination. Thursday, the Army endorsed the proposal, announcing it had signed the Historic Register Nomination for the Vancouver National Historic Reserve on Wednesday.

“The Vancouver National Reserve is an important cornerstone in the history of our state,” said Cantwell. “Placing it on the National Historic Register will help preserve this site for the collective benefit of current and future generations. The Reserve is a valuable educational tool, and preserving this place will help give Washingtonians a window into 200 years of our state’s past.”

Fort Vancouver and Officers Row are currently on the National Register. In 2003, the National Park Service prepared a nomination to place the entire Vancouver Historic Reserve on the Registry. However, adding the site to the Registry required the Army’s approval. Now, three years later, following help from Cantwell, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA), the Army has officially signed off on the nomination.

“The nomination process was at a stop until our Congressional delegation stepped in,” said Vancouver’s Mayor Royce Pollard. “Their assistance was the key to getting the Army’s approval on the nomination.”

Placing the Reserve on the National Registry will position the City of Vancouver and Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust to obtain federal grants and historic preservation tax credits to maintain the site.

As the oldest continuously active military base west of the Rocky Mountains, the Vancouver National Historic Reserve is one of the most significant historic sites in the Pacific Northwest. Over the course of its history, the site was the location of a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post, the Vancouver Barracks, Officers’ Row, and Pearson Airpark, and is also along the route traveled by Lewis and Clark.

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