Fort Nisqually - Tacoma, WA
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 47° 18.211 W 122° 31.987
10T E 535293 N 5238999
Fort Nisqually was a Hudson Bay fort located near the delta of the Nisqually river in what is now Dupont, and later reconstructed within Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. The stamp was part of the Americana Series and was issued in 1978.
Waymark Code: WM3Y15
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 06/02/2008
Views: 39
Fort Nisqually was the first European settlement on Puget Sound, founded in 1833 by the Hudson's Bay Company as a fur trading outpost. The Tacoma Parks Website gives this information about the fort:
Fort Nisqually was operated and served by Scottish gentlemen, Native Americans, Kanakas (Hawaiians), French-Canadians, West Indians, Englishmen and American settlers. Gradually, Fort Nisqually grew from a remote outpost to a major international trading establishment. A subsidiary, the Puget Sound's Agricultural Company, was formed to establish new sources of revenue for the HBC. Soon Fort Nisqually was producing crops and livestock for local consumption and export to Russian America, Hawaii, Spanish California, Europe and Asia. Native Americans were welcomed at Fort Nisqually as friends, customers, fur traders, farm and livestock employees, and even as spouses!
Fort Nisqually never had a military purpose, but the palisade does resemble some frontier army stockades. It was only occasionally visited by American and British military personnel during its active years. The 1846 treaty between the United States and Great Britain established the boundary between the two country's claims at the 49th parallel. This treaty left Fort Nisqually on American soil.
With fur trade profits declining, increasing competition from American settlers, and mounting harassment from American revenue agents and tax collectors, Fort Nisqually was closed in 1869. The United States government, under the 1846 treaty agreement, paid the HBC $650,000 for Fort Nisqually and the Puget Sound Agriculture Company lands.
One hundred years after construction and 65 years after closing, major efforts were undertaken to preserve the few remaining structures. Only the Factor's House and the Granary had avoided disrepair and decay. Civic minded citizens moved those two historic buildings and re-created several others to present Fort Nisqually as it was in 1855.
Today Fort Nisqually hosts 90,000 visitors annually at a beautifully restored site. Seven structures are open when trained staff are present during the summer months and during living history events. The Factor's House has recently been restored to original 1855 conditions, when the building was brand new. The museum store and visitors center are currently located in the building just outside the palisades.
The Granary, the oldest building on Puget Sound, is open. The Blacksmith shop and the laborer's dwelling house are historically accurate. Living history re-enactors are often available for interpretation of the detailed history of Fort Nisqually.
Interestingly, the blockhouse depicted on this stamp had quite a history of its own. It was originally built on Whidbey Island by the early settler family, the Crocketts. According to the WPA American Guide book, "Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State" the "blockhouse was sold to Ezra Meeker, for the entrance to his restaurant at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition at Seattle in 1909, and was later moved to Point Defiance Park, Tacoma."
The Fort Nisqually 28 cent stamp was issued in 1978 as part of the Americana series. The Americana series was issued between 1975 and 1981 in denominations varying from 1 cent to five dollars. Wikipedia gives the following information about the series:
The Americana series was a series of United States definitive postage stamps issued between 1975 and 1981. Denominations ranged from one cent to five dollars. It superseded the Prominent Americans series, and was in turn superseded by the Great Americans series and the Transportation coils.
The issue was notable for its distinctive style, with text (generally relating to American history or freedoms) along two sides of the stamp. While the stamps were not part of the Bicentennial Series of stamps issued from 1971-1983, the historical theme fit in well. The twenty sheet stamps, placed in denomination order in blocks of four, form five blocks of four all with text entirely on the outside. Three of the blocks have themes: The first, "Roots of Democracy", the second and third lack themes, the fourth, "Pioneer America", and the fifth, "America's Light".
Among philatelists, the series is most famous for the CIA invert. An invert error of the $1 lamp stamp, it was so named because the original sheet was bought by a CIA employee who had gone to the post office to buy some stamps.
1 cent, 1977The 16 cent and the 29 cent were issued for a proposed, but never implemented "business rate" for first class mail, which was to be higher than the personal rate (only letters with handwritten addresses would be eligible for the lower rate). The proposed rate was rejected by the Postal Rate Commission which chose instead a 15 cent rate (for two ounces, 28 cents) for all mail.
Since the 16 and 29 cent stamps satisfied no rate, and were not a convenient round number, they saw little use.
The design for the 1 cent stamp was originally designated for a never-issued 26 cent stamp.
Many of the stamps were issued in mid-November in New York City. At the time, it was usual to have a stamp issuance during the annual stamp show for the American Stamp Dealers Association, which was then held in mid-November in New York City. The March stamps issued in New York were issued at the ASDA-sponsored INTERPEX show.
The series was the first omnibus definitive series in U.S. history not to include a five cent stamp.
See the Wikipedia link below to view a listing of all 33 stamps within the series.