Point Defiance Park, Public park in Tacoma, Washington, US
Point Defiance Park is an urban and regional park on a peninsula in Tacoma, Washington, covering 308 hectares (760 acres) with old forests, beaches, and views over Puget Sound. Several gardens run through the grounds, including a Japanese garden and a rose garden that sit between wooded trails.
The land served as a military reservation starting in the 1840s before President Grover Cleveland designated it as a public park in 1888. Fort Nisqually was moved here during the 20th century and rebuilt as a trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company from the 1800s.
Fort Nisqually brings trade practices to life through reenactments that show how settlers and native groups exchanged goods and knowledge. Visitors walk through reconstructed buildings where interpreters in period clothing demonstrate daily tasks from the 1800s.
The park offers several entrances and parking areas, with trails of different lengths running through forests and along the shoreline. A zoo and aquarium as well as boat launch facilities sit within the park boundaries and connect via paved paths.
A specialized high school for science and math uses the grounds as its classroom, holding lessons on the beach, in the forest, and at the zoo. Students conduct field studies directly within the different habitats that make up the park.
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