Informative sign tells us about the well sweep operations.

This is the well sweep, used to draw water for drinking and other necessities. Can you see me?

Civilian farmers lived in an area known as Fruit Valley which was between the Columbia River west of the Fort and north to Vancouver Lake. A few farms exist there today. Also, right outside the Fort gates was a garden in the area that was known as the "commons" where people of all nationalities lived in tents and other make shift housing. They used the trade shop of the Fort and its dispensary too.

These two signs --put together-- explain the farming during the early days of Fort Vancouver.

The Counting House is the next building that will be constructed at the Fort. This sign tells the importance of it to the community. Each Fall, since Paulie moved to Vancouver in 1985, she has gone to one of their re-inactments with live actors at the Fort. They do this around Thanksgiving and again at Christmas and Independence day too. It is usually free and members of the community volunteer to play the roles of the people working and living at the Fort, inside and out in the commons area too. It is quite interesting. It is like going to a long play.

This is a drawing of what the Counting House looked like and where they will rebuild it to be authentic of Fort Vancouver. They research history and anything available to reconstruct the Fort to be exactly like it was in the glory days of old Fort Vancouver. Before they could build it on the exact site it used to be, they had to "dig" for artifacts of the times before the flood when Fort Vancouver was a thriving community. Anything they find is marked and recorded for exact location and what it might have been.