23 Military and war museums in Washington (state)

Cape Disappointment State Park is a public recreation area on Cape Disappointment, located southwest of Ilwaco, Washington, on the bottom end of Long Beach Peninsula, the northern headlands where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. The state park's 2,023 acres (819 ha) encompass a diverse landscape of old-growth forest, freshwater lakes, freshwater and saltwater marshes, and oceanside tidelands. Park sites include Fort Canby, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, North Head Lighthouse, and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. Cape Disappointment is one of several state parks and sites in Washington and Oregon that are included in Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.

The Coast Guard Museum Northwest is dedicated to preserving the heritage of the United States Coast Guard in the Pacific Northwest. The museum is located on the property of Coast Guard Station Seattle on the Elliott Bay waterfront south of Downtown, Seattle, Washington. It covers the full range of Coast Guard roles, ranging from protecting shores, lives and property to lighthouses and lightships, from life-saving stations to rescue boats, from buoy tenders to icebreakers and weather ships and from modern aircraft to patrol boats and cutters. The museum admittance is free of charge.

The Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the display and preservation of rare military aircraft, tanks and other military equipment.

Fort Columbia State Park is a public recreation area and historic preserve at the site of former Fort Columbia, located on Chinook Point at the mouth of the Columbia River in Chinook, Washington. The 618-acre (250 ha) state park features twelve historic wood-frame fort buildings as well as an interpretive center and hiking trails. The park's grounds are located over a tunneled section of U.S. Route 101.

Fort Flagler State Park is a public recreation area that occupies the site of Fort Flagler, a former United States Army fort at the northern end of Marrowstone Island in Washington. The state park occupies 1,451 acres (587 ha) at the entrance to Admiralty Inlet and the Marrowstone Point Light lying adjacent. Port Townsend is visible to the northwest, the cranes at the Navy base on Indian Island to the west, and Whidbey Island to the east across Admiralty Inlet. Flagler Road terminates at the park entrance.

Fort Nisqually was an important fur trading and farming post of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Puget Sound area, part of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department. It was located in what is now DuPont, Washington. Today it is a living history museum located in Tacoma, Washington, USA, within the boundaries of Point Defiance Park. The Fort Nisqually Granary, moved along with the Factor's House from the original site of the second fort to this park, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Built in 1843, the granary is the oldest building in Washington state and one of the only surviving examples of a Hudson's Bay Company "post on sill" structure. The Factor's House and the granary are the only surviving Hudson's Bay Company buildings in the United States.

Fort Simcoe was a United States Army fort erected in south-central Washington Territory to house troops sent to keep watch over local Indian tribes. The site and remaining buildings are preserved as Fort Simcoe Historical State Park, located eight miles (13 km) west of modern White Swan, Washington, in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

For the adjacent park, see Fort Steilacoom Park

Fort Vancouver was a 19th-century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of the Columbia River in present-day Vancouver, Washington. The fort was a major center of the regional fur trading. Every year trade goods and supplies from London arrived either via ships sailing to the Pacific Ocean or overland from Hudson Bay via the York Factory Express. Supplies and trade goods were exchanged with a plethora of Indigenous cultures for fur pelts. Furs from Fort Vancouver were often shipped to the Chinese port of Guangzhou where they were traded for Chinese manufactured goods for sale in the United Kingdom. At its pinnacle, Fort Vancouver watched over 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and 600 employees. Today, a full-scale replica of the fort, with internal buildings, has been constructed and is open to the public as Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

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.

Fort Walla Walla is a United States Army fort located in Walla Walla, Washington. The first Fort Walla Walla was established July 1856, by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Steptoe, 9th Infantry Regiment. A second Fort Walla Walla was occupied September 23, 1856. The third and permanent military Fort Walla Walla was built in 1858 and adjoined Steptoeville, now Walla Walla, Washington, a community that had grown up around the second fort. An Executive Order on May 7, 1859 declared the fort a military reservation containing 640 acres devoted to military purposes and a further 640 acres each of hay and timber reserves. On September 28, 1910 soldiers from the 1st Cavalry lowered the flag closing the fort. In 1917, the fort briefly reopened to train men of the First Battalion Washington Field Artillery in support of action in World War I. In 1921, the fort and property were turned over to the Veterans Administration where 15 original buildings from the military era remain. Today, the complex contains a park, a museum, and the Jonathan M. Wainright Memorial VA Medical Center.

Fort Worden Historical State Park is located in Port Townsend, Washington, on 433 acres originally known as Fort Worden, a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps base constructed to protect Puget Sound from invasion by sea. Fort Worden was named after U.S. Navy Rear Admiral John Lorimer Worden, commander of USS Monitor during the famous Battle of Hampton Roads during the American Civil War.

The Heritage Flight Museum is a non-profit organization located at Skagit Regional Airport just west of Burlington, Washington. It was founded by the family of Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders in 1996 and was originally located at Bellingham International Airport. The museum moved to Skagit County in 2013.

Lewis Army Museum is a military museum at Fort Lewis in the state of Washington, U.S. It is housed in the historic former Red Shield Inn, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and can be seen prominently from Interstate 5. It is the only certified U.S. Army museum on the West Coast.

McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord Field is the home of the 62d Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command, the field's primary mission being worldwide strategic airlift.

The Olympic Flight Museum is an aviation museum at the Olympia Airport in Olympia, Washington, USA. The museum has more than 10 vintage planes and helicopters on display, most of which are in airworthy condition. The museum also hosts the annual Olympic Air Show, featuring a selection of heritage and current military aircraft demonstrations.

The Pearson Air Museum is a place-based aviation museum at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, USA. Managed by the National Park Service as part of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, museum exhibits provide an opportunity for visitors to explore aviation history tied to Pearson Field and Vancouver Barracks. Objects and artifacts from the National Park Service collections and on loan from members of the community and other museums depict history of aviation in the Pacific Northwest.

Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum is a military museum located at Fort Worden State Park on Puget Sound, in the State of Washington. The museum occupies part of Building 201, a former barracks at Fort Worden.

The Puget Sound Navy Museum is an official naval museum located in Bremerton, Washington, United States. The museum is one of the 10 Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It is located near the Washington State Ferries terminal, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap. According to the museum website, its mission is "collecting, preserving, and interpreting the naval heritage of the Pacific Northwest for the benefit of the U.S. Navy and general public."

The Reach Museum, also known as the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center, is a museum and visitor center for Hanford Reach National Monument located in Richland, Washington. The center tells a story of the cultural, natural, and scientific history of the Hanford Reach and Columbia Basin area, as well as promoting tourism.

USS Turner Joy (DD-951) was one of 18 Forrest Sherman-class destroyers of the United States Navy. It was named for Admiral Charles Turner Joy USN (1895–1956). Commissioned in 1959, it spent its entire career in the Pacific. It participated extensively in the Vietnam War, and was one of the principal ships involved in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

The United States Naval Undersea Museum is a naval museum located at Keyport, Washington. It is one of the 10 Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It sits next to a branch of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center.

The Washington National Guard Museum, also known as The Arsenal Museum, is a military museum of the Washington National Guard. It is located at the Washington National Guard headquarters at Camp Murray, visible from Interstate 5 near Lakewood, Washington.