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Photo: Sarony, Major & Knapp Lith., lithographer; Sohon, Gustav, 1825-1903, artist, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Built in 1825, Fort Vancouver was a fur trading outpost and home to the Hudson's Bay Company. It's right outside Downtown Vancouver and next to the Pearson Air Field and Museum. It's a great spot to stop and have a picnic or just to look at the handful of old buildings and displays.
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in the states of Washington and Oregon. The National Historic Site consists of two units, one located on the site of Fort Vancouver in modern-day Vancouver, Washington; the other being the former residence of John McLoughlin in Oregon City, Oregon. The two sites were separately given national historic designation in the 1940s. The Fort Vancouver unit was designated a National Historic Site in 1961, and was combined with the McLoughlin House into a unit in 2003.
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Check out twenty-two restored nineteenth century homes, adjacent to the north side of Fort Vancouver. Several are open to the public.
The museum is on historic Pearson Field, the oldest active airfield in the United States. The museum is also home to the country's oldest wooden hangar. Built in 1918 as part of the U.S. Army Spruce Division, it has been used as an airplane hangar since 1921. It even housed Italian prisoners of war during W.W.II. The museum is the first step in a three-phase project to recreate a pre-WWII Army Air Corps Field that existed at Pearson Field in the 1920s and 1930s.
Newly renovated 1930s movie theatre showing second-run movies. Grab a drink before the show in the upstairs lounge.
The oldest public square in the Pacific Northwest, established in 1853. The park includes a playground, rose garden, fountains and a variety of public art pieces. In the summer, Esther Short hosts a variety of concerts and festivals.