National Park Service 
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site 
Vancouver, Washington

Replication of Historic Records

Fort Vancouver was headquarters for the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department embracing present-day British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The trading post, operated from 1830 to 1860, also represented Britain's business and governmental interests in competition with the United States. Many items were manufactured there, trading took place, farming and raising of livestock was vital, and company clerks tracked all operations and copied inventory records by hand.

The Counting House, originally built in 1845, was reconstructed from 1999 to 2004, based on archeological and historical study. This structure housed the financial offices where business transactions were recorded more than 150 years ago. The Counting House is an important addition to the reconstruction of the most important settlement in the Pacific Northwest. We are given a glimpse of what the handwriting looked like on both a replicated journal and also replicated pages from the priest's records of births, deaths, marriages and baptisms.

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Replicated journal, Counting House

 

 

  

Interpretive panel: clerks making journal entries

 

 

 

Handmade journal by Max Marbles, Salem, Oregon 

 

 
Replicated entries by Julie Remmerde

 

 

 

 

 
Replicated journal pages by Julie Remmerde

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Interactive children's exhibit, Counting House 

 

 

 

 
Replicated priest's records for children's exhibit by Julie Remmerde

 

 

 
Priest's records in place as an interactive panel, children's exhibit 

 

 

 

 

Replicated priest's records for children's exhibit by Julie Remmerde 

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