Fort Borst Park- Block House

Very ominous in appearance with only blackness to be see through its wooden barred windows and firing loopholes that peer down at passersby, this block house was witness to much early pioneer activity. However, the only battle that it saw was perhaps one acted out by the children who used it for a play fort, and its only wounds are from target practice.  Its original design was for defense against conflicts between settlers and local tribes. Turns out it was used for storing grain and supplies for troops during the local conflicts. Its other uses included housing a family while their home was built, and even a baby was born in it.

In 1855-56, the logs were cut on the opposite side of the Skookumchuck river, floated across, hewn by hand, to be formed and stacked with nice dove-tail corners. It was erected by Captain Francis Goff, Oregon recruits, and locals where the Skookumchuck river met with the Chehalis river. It’s been moved more than once, first when the edges of the Chehalis threatened its original location, to where it sits now at the north end of Borst Park.