Nature, heritage, recreation. And dogs. Fort Steilacoom Park, located across the street from Western State Hospital and adjacent to Pierce College, has it all. At 340 acres, Lakewood’s largest park contains baseball and soccer playfields, a playground, an off-leash dog park and 10 miles of hiking trails that wind through the park.
The walk around Waughop Lake has recently been paved and allows accessibility to strollers, bikers, walkers and wheelchairs. Also new is the Pavilion in the Park. It’s a multipurpose room and performance area, great for summer concerts with grass seating.
It also has history. It once was a military base and a farm for Western State Hospital. Several of the barns still stand along with two unusual silos made of black and red bricks. Faded lettering says the pair date from 1931. H-Barn is currently being looked at to be restored and serve as a venue for community special events.
Until it was razed for safety reasons, the old Hill Ward dormitory for Western State patients sat on a nearby hill. Today it’s a plaza with the feel of Greek ruins, minus the Doric columns.
The most poignant area is the cemetery adjacent to the dog park. More than 3,200 people, mostly patients, are buried there. The dead were given only numbers on their markers — a practice meant to distance them from the stigma of mental illness. It also served to send them in to the great beyond forever unknown.
But Grave Concerns, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring the identities of the dead, has slowly added new markers with names to the graves. Now remembered is Ursula, a Native American girl whose short life lasted from 1883 to 1885. Near her grave is Hezekiah Gray who died in 1885, age unknown. A vintage marker, one of the few with a name instead of a number, might have been for a Western State doctor: “Moses Smith M.D.” He died in 1891 at age 74.
When: The park is open 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. or sunset (if later) unless otherwise posted
Where: 8714 87th Ave. SW, Lakewood
Information: cityoflakewood.us