Hudson's Bay Neighborhood Association

Hudson's Bay Neighborhood Association

Hudson?’s Bay Neighborhood History

The land upon which the Hudson’s Bay Neighborhood rests has been the site of human occupancy for thousands of years. Prior to the arrival of Lewis and Clark in 1806, and other explorers, the Native American Chinook tribe flourished along the banks of the Columbia. When the British established the original Fort Vancouver to house the Hudson’s Bay Company’s fur trading business, the natives and new tenants of the land lived peacefully together. The current Hudson’s Bay Neighborhood boundaries are adjacent to both of the historic Fort Vancouver sites, one now the site of the Washington State School for the Deaf, and the other, the site of the National Park Service replica, south of 5th Street. The established Neighborhood dates back to the Fort Vancouver years, developing in the 1820’s through the 1840’s.

The US Army arrived in 1849 to protect the new American territory. The original nine log cabins built for Army officers were built on what is Evergreen Boulevard today. To this day, there has been a continuous presence of the Army in the Hudson’s Bay Neighborhood. The active Army military installation spanned a hundred years here, including two World Wars; it is now operated primarily as a reserve facility.

The Hudson’s Bay Neighborhood was the original “East Vancouver”. It is an area of rich history, exemplified by its residents and commercial development. Evergreen Boulevard and 5th Street were once the main highways to Camas and the Columbia Gorge, where many businesses served these highways as well as the thriving neighborhood. The Hudson’s Bay neighborhood has always been a center of activity and community pride in the City of Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest.