Western State Hospital (Washington)

For the adjacent park, see Fort Steilacoom Park Fort Steilacoom was founded by the U.S. Army in 1849 near Lake Steilacoom. It was among the first military fortifications built by the U.S. north of the Columbia River in what was to become the State of Washington. The fort was constructed due to civilian agitation about the massacre in 1847 at the Whitman mission. Indians of the Nisqually tribe attacked white settlers in the area on October 29, 1855, as a result of their dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Medicine Creek that had been imposed on them the previous year, particularly angered that their assigned reservation curtailed the traditional fishing economy. The fort was headquarters for the U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment during this "Indian War" of 1855-56. In the course of the conflict, Volunteer U.S. Army Colonel Abram Benton Moses was killed. At the conclusion of the war, Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens brought Chief Leschi of the Nisqually tribe to trial for the death of Moses during a skirmish at Connell's Prairie on October 31, 1855. Since the death had occurred in combat, the United States Army refused to carry out the sentence of death on the grounds of Fort Steilacoom, maintaining that he was a prisoner of war. The territorial legislature therefore passed a law authorizing Leschi's execution at the hands of civilian authorities. On February 19, 1858, Leschi was hanged in what is today the city of Lakewood. He was exonerated in 2004.Fort Steilacoom was decommissioned as a military post in 1868. In 1871 Washington Territory repurposed the fort as an insane asylum, with the barracks serving as patient and staff housing. Fort Steilacoom is now Western State Hospital. Four cottages from the fort remain on the site, and serve as a living history museum. The post cemetery also remains, containing civilian burials from the fort era. All known military burials were relocated to the San Francisco National Cemetery in the 1890s.

Waughop Lake is a lake less than 1.6 km (1.0 mi) east of Steilacoom in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The lake lies within Fort Steilacoom Park, in the city of Lakewood, Washington. Waughop Lake has a surface area of approximately 33 acres (130,000 m2) and a mean depth of 7 feet (2.1 m). The lake is fed by groundwater and has no surface drainage channels. The lake is named after Dr. John Wesley Waughop, former superintendent of the Washington State Hospital for the Insane. The hospital, now known as Western State Hospital, lies across from the park on Steilacoom Boulevard SW. Remnants of part of the hospital are incorporated into the trail. The lake is circled by a 9/10-mile paved loop trail. Waughop Lake is refilled with trout that, unless caught, die within a few weeks. One of the primary researchers of this lake, Michele La Fontaine, has done studies on the algae and dissolved oxygen content. The depth fluctuates about 2 feet a year, gaining 2 feet in winter and losing 2 feet due to evaporation.

Pierce College is a public community college in Pierce County, Washington. The college consists of two main campuses, Pierce College Fort Steilacoom in Lakewood and Pierce College Puyallup in Puyallup, and auxiliary campuses at Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base, and in South Hill. The college is home to 17,707 students.

Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, Washington is the largest park in the city. The 340-acre (1.4 km2) park includes Waughop Lake, an off-leash dog park, and several soccer fields and baseball fields. It is adjacent to Pierce College, historic Fort Steilacoom, and Western State Hospital. The area became a homesteader's farm circa 1844, then became Fort Steilacoom in 1849. In 1868, the government purchased it for use as the "Insane Asylum for Washington Territory". Hospital residents grew crops and orchards in the park area, and planted many of the poplar trees that line the lake shore. More than 3,000 hospital residents are buried in the cemetery near the parking lot.The park is the site of high school cross country meets in the fall and Pierce College utilizes it for athletic activities. In September or October the Fort Steilacoom Invite is held, hosted by Lakes High School. It is currently the second largest meet in Washington state.

Steilacoom High School (or SHS) is a public high school in Steilacoom, Washington, United States and is part of the Steilacoom Historical School District. It is the oldest, and to date the only, high school in the school district. Prior to its establishment, students attended grades 9–12 in the neighboring Tacoma School District and Clover Park School District. SHS was established in 1981 for grades 9 and 10, with grades 11 and 12 starting in the following two years. The facility underwent a $23 million modernization and expansion in 2007–09.Communities in the district include: Steilacoom, Anderson Island, DuPont, Ketron Island, and portions of Lakewood and University Place.

Chambers Creek is a creek in Washington. It is fed by Lake Steilacoom in Lakewood, Washington.

Lakes High School is located in Lakewood, Washington. It serves students from 9th grade to 12th grade. It is one of the two major high schools in the Clover Park School District.

KVTI (90.9 FM) is a National Public Radio affiliate station operated by Northwest Public Radio, licensed to Tacoma, Washington, and operates at 90.9 MHz with an ERP of 51 kW. As an "NPR & Classical Music" station, it broadcasts NPR news, local and syndicated classical music shows (switching to jazz music on weekends), and other public radio programming. The station is owned by Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, but since 2010, has been operated by the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. It is one of three NPR member stations in the Seattle/Tacoma area, with fellow Tacoma-based station KNKX and Seattle-based KUOW-FM being the other two stations.

The 2015 United States Open Championship was the 115th U.S. Open, played June 18–21, 2015 at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington, southwest of Tacoma on the shore of Puget Sound. Jordan Spieth won his first U.S. Open and consecutive major titles, one stroke ahead of runners-up Dustin Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen. This was the first U.S. Open televised by Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports, launching a 12-year contract with the United States Golf Association. Spieth, age 21, became the youngest U.S. Open champion in 92 years, since Bobby Jones in 1923. The reigning Masters champion, Spieth became the youngest to win the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year, passing Tiger Woods, who won both in 2002 at age 26. Others to win the first two majors of the year were Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), and Jack Nicklaus (1972). This was the first U.S. Open played in the Pacific Northwest and the third major played in the state of Washington, which hosted the PGA Championship in 1944 and 1998.

Chambers Bay is a public golf course in the northwest United States, located in University Place, Washington, on the Puget Sound southwest of Tacoma. The British links-style course is owned by Pierce County and opened for play on June 23, 2007. It hosted the U.S. Amateur in 2010 and the U.S. Open in 2015.

The Steilacoom Catholic Church (also known as the Church of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic church in Steilacoom, Washington, United States. It was originally built in 1855 near Fort Steilacoom, but was moved to its present location in 1864. It was the first Catholic church built in Washington. It was a mission church.The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Charles Wright Academy is a private college preparatory school in University Place, Washington, offering Preschool to Grade 12. It was founded as an all-boys private school since its inception in 1957 and began admitting girls in 1970.