Historical Ruins to Visit While Exploring Floods Prehistory
If you love exploring in Washington, you’re probably at least somewhat curious about its past. And with plenty of documented historic and archaeological sites statewide, you can definitely learn quite a bit just by exploring. Washington’s history is so fascinating. If you enjoy exploring our old ruins, check out these spots.
Columbia Hills State Park – The next time you’re up for a hike with a side of history, just head to Columbia Hills Historical State Park, located on the banks of the Columbia River near Dallesport. This 3,637-acre camping park is full of natural wonders.
While the scenery here is breathtaking, the park is also full of ancient pictographs and petroglyphs hidden on a cliffside perch and paths through the park are lined with information on some of these pictographs and petroglyphs. It’s a great place to learn about local history while getting some good exercise.
You’ll also see the remnants of old ranch equipment scattered across the park. It’s also home to Horsethief Butte, a favorite among climbers of all abilities. You can see it all on the 10-mile trail that takes you through the best scenery. Between the hiking trails, stunning scenery, and pieces of the past, this park has something for everyone.
Hanford High School– this concrete structure, built in 1916, is one of six buildings with ruins remaining on the old Hanford nuclear site.
The remains of the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters at Fort Spokane Military Reservation are in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. The military fort was closed in 1898, but it’s now a beautiful historic site.
Maryhill Stonehenge is an ode to the real thing. Dedicated July 4, 1918 as a memorial to those who died in World War I, this “ruins replica” is now part of the Maryhill Museum of Art.
Maryhill Museum of Art – Originally built as a mansion for entrepreneur Samuel Hill (1857-1931). it was intended to be used as a home at which they could entertain Samuel Hill’s school friend King Albert I of Belgium. Hill imagined the structure as a ranch building amidst a 5,300-acre agricultural community that he was developing at the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge. During a 1917 visit by his friend Loïe Fuller, he decided to turn his unfinished home into “a museum for the public good, and for the betterment of French art in the far Northwest of America.” The unfinished museum building was dedicated on November 3, 1926 by Queen Marie of Romania, and was opened to the public on Hill’s birthday (May 13) in 1940.