Fort Canby Pacific County, Washington

Name: Fort Canby
Address: Washington

FORT CANBY: A deactivated military fort on Cape Disappointment overlooking Baker Bay/Columbia River. An Executive Order, dated Feb. 26, 1852, reserved Cape Disappointment for military purposes. Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was placed in operation Oct. 15, 1856, but construction of a post and fortifications were delayed until August 1863. The fort was not activated until April 15, 1864. For a number of years after its establishment the fort was generally known as Fort Cape Disappointment. Finally, on Feb. 13, 1875, the government designated the post Fort Canby in honor of Brevet Major General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, who had been killed by the Modoc Indians, April 11, 1873. A post office was established June 30, 1890 and continued until Jan. 31, 1923, when it was closed. Fort Canby was deactivated on March 28, 1947. Jurisdiction over federal property was transferred to other departments, including the Treasury Department which operated Cape D and North Head lighthouses and the U.S. Coast Guard life saving station.

“A Name for Every Place Around Pacific County, from A to Z.” Chinook Observer, 13 May 2013, https://chinookobserver.com/2013/05/13/a-name-for-every-place-around-pacific-county-from-a-to-z/.

Mapped Location

Fort Canby: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

Information

General information on Fort Canby

Feature Type: Place

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Fort Canby

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name	Description
Fort Canby	Official

Origin Notes and History of Fort Canby

References to Fort Canby that document the origin of its place name

FORT CANBY, at the mouth of the Columbia River, in the southwestern part of Pacific County. It was completed and garrisoned in 1865 at Cape Disappointment, then officially known as "Cape Hancock." In 1874, by order of the War Department, at the suggestion of Assistant Adjutant-General H. Clay Wood, the present name was adopted in honor of Brevet Maj or-General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, United States Army. General Canby had been treacherously attacked and slain near Van Bremmer's Ranch, California, April 11, 1878, during the Modoc Indian War. He had served with marked distinction in the Mexican and Civil Wars. (Hubert Howe Bancroft, Works, Volume XXX., page 511, and Commandant, Fort Canby, in Names MSS., Letter 88.)

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 88-89 | Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Pacific County

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2026-09-27