A DYNAMITE DESTINATION

he Puget Sound region is integral to the history of Washington, which became a territory in 1853 and a state in ’89. Among the regional highlights is the DuPont Historical Museum, in the namesake company town once known for explosives manufacturing. What truly blows museumgoers minds is the astonishing list of firsts celebrated in its exhibits and displays. Among other milestones, the area was home to both the first European trading post on Puget Sound (Fort Nisqually, dating from 1833) and the first American settlement in what would, launched in 1835); recorded the region’s first overland road (1834); hosted the first known Independence Day celebration (1841) north of the Columbia River; and was the first named location in Oregon Territory (organized in 1848). In 1906 the DuPont chemical company bought land at the Fort Nisqually site to build the first industrial plant in the Pacific Northwest. Completed in 1909, the DuPont Powder Works opened the way for roadbuilding, canals, rail lines, mining and other applications worldwide, and it kept manufacturing explosives until 1975.