Fort Casey State Park - Whidbey Island

Defend Puget Sound at Fort Casey State Park, one of the best preserved coast artillery posts in Washington. Unlike some of the other bunkers, Fort Casey features two 10-inch and two 3-inch historic guns on display. The views are pretty fantastic as well of Admiralty Inlet and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Others may love the Admiralty Head Lighthouse, open seasonally, which offers many interpretive displays about the lighthouse and region. At the south end of the park is the Keystone Spit and two miles of narrow land separating Admiralty Inlet and Crocket Lake. Fort Casey State Park has around 20 standard tent sites and 14 utility sites. The park contains a designated remote-control glider area and a parade field popular for kite-flying. There are two saltwater boat ramps, an amphitheater, and underwater dive park and 68 unsheltered picnic tables.

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Located three miles south of Coupeville on Whidbey Island, just off Hwy. 20. Follow the signs to the Keystone Ferry terminal. The park entrance is well signed between the ferry terminal parking lot and the Camp Casey barracks.

In 1858, the U.S. government purchased ten acres of land costing $400 for the construction of Admiralty Head Lighthouse. In 1890, the army took over the premises. It named its garrison "Fort Casey" in honor of Brigadier General Thomas Lincoln Casey, the last U.S. Army chief of engineers. At that time, Fort Casey, in union with Fort Worden and Fort Flagler, was said to comprise a "triangle of fire" guarding the entrance to Puget Sound. When the fort was constructed, the old lighthouse had to be moved. A new lighthouse was built on the present site in 1903. Today the Admiralty Head Lighthouse at Fort Casey serves as a historic landmark and interpretive center. The park was incorporated into Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve in 1980. In Aug. 2012, a newly constructed and historically accurate lantern house was installed at Admiralty Head Lighthouse.

The first Admiralty Head Lighthouse, built in 1859, was removed from the bluff when the United States War Department decided to fortify Admiralty Inlet. The new lighthouse was constructed in 1903, and aided safe navigation for shipping until 1922. The original lantern house was removed in 1927 and reinstalled at the New Dungeness Lighthouse at the end of Dungeness Spit. Admiralty Head Lighthouse is now an interpretive center and gift shop.

In 1968, the park acquired the two 10-inch guns and carriages from Fort Wint in the Philippines. These guns bear the scars of battle from WWII. The guns are mounted on one end of a pair of swiveling arms which were counter weighted. After loading, the catch was released and the falling counterweights would raise the gun to firing position. The recoil energy from firing the gun would push the gun back to the loading position where it was invisible fro the sea. This afforded the soldiers excellent protection.