Foodways History at Fort Nisqually

Visitors to Fort Nisqually Living History Museum can experience the full circle of 1850s foodways with the addition of its new root cellar.

The Fort will store root crops raised in its Heritage Gardens in the new cellar: beets, carrots, parsnips, radish, swede turnip, and potatoes. Fort cooks will use the vegetables in the period kitchen to create savory 19th century meals.

“We can now demonstrate the full circle of 19th century foodways – from seed, to storage and preservation, to table,” said volunteer Tracy Berryman, the Fort’s lead gardener. She hopes to use the root cellar to demonstrate other methods of food preservation, such as pickling or brining, in the future.

Fort Nisqually was the center of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s agricultural operations in Western Washington. The Fort’s historical records include mention of a potato house, or root cellar, as part of the Fort complex.

“This is the era before refrigerators or self-seal canning,” said Fort Manager Mike McGuire, “Cellars were the most efficient way to preserve produce.”

For its reconstructed root cellar, The Fort chose a historical style appropriate for the area’s rocky glacial soil. Volunteers assisted McGuire throughout the construction – from digging out the pit to planting the rooftop. The underground walls are surfaced in stone, which hides reinforced concrete walls (used for modern safety). The timbers of the upper walls came from a 19th century warehouse and were re-surfaced by hand with an axe and adze. The corners are interlocked with a beveled half-notch that sheds water and will tighten as the building settles. No “precious” nails were needed for this construction technique.

To help keep the building temperature moderated, the roof eaves overhang the upper walls protecting them from the warming sun. The roof was planted with a “living prairie” to insulate the roof and replicate the environment in which it would have been situated.

For more information about museum programs and admission, visit FortNisqually.org or call (253) 591-5339.