{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Red Shield Inn | nrhp_type = | image = Fort Lewis Military Museum 01.jpg | caption = Fort Lewis Military Museum (2009) | location = Main St., Fort Lewis, Washington | coordinates = {{coord|47|5|50|N|122|36|2|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Washington | built = 1919 | architect = Pratt & Watson Construction Co. | architecture = Stick/Eastlake, Western Stick | added = February 14, 1979 | area = {{convert|0.6|acre}} | refnum = 79002552<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }}
'''Lewis Army Museum''' (originally '''Fort Lewis Military Museum''') is a military museum at Joint Base Lewis–McChord in the state of Washington, U.S. It is housed in the historic former '''Red Shield Inn''', which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and can be seen prominently from Interstate 5. It is the only certified U.S. Army museum on the West Coast.<ref name=brochure>[http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/dptms/museum/2005%20Fort%20Lewis%20Museum%20Brochure.pdf "The Fort Lewis Military Museum"]{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} (brochure, 2005). Synthia Santos. Lewis Army Museum webpage. Joint Base Lewis-McChord official website. Retrieved 2011-08-25.</ref>
==History== Established in 1971, the museum was originally housed in a two-story barracks.<ref name=OnTheCuttingEdge>[http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/dptms/museum/edge.htm On the Cutting Edge, 1972-1999] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427231346/http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/dptms/museum/edge.htm |date=2014-04-27 }}. Lewis Army Museum webpage. Joint Base Lewis-McChord official website. Retrieved 2011-08-25.</ref> In July 1973, it was moved to the old Fort Lewis Inn.<ref name=OnTheCuttingEdge/> Amidst a restructuring by U.S. Army Center for Military History that prioritizes "readiness and lethality", the museum will be closing.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Board |first=Conner |date=2025-07-08 |title=Volunteers try to stop Lewis Army Museum from being shut down |url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/volunteers-fight-to-keep-lewis-army-museum-open-joint-base-lewis-mcchord/281-ccd787d7-3a05-4335-80ef-559ff1668060 |access-date=2025-07-12 |work=King5 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Exhibits== Inside the museum are approximately {{convert|10,000|sqft|m2}} of interior displays of various collections of uniforms and equipment, including "Soldiers of the Northwest", I Corps, the 9th Infantry Division, the Medical Corps, and "The Army Family".<ref name=brochure/><ref name=OnTheCuttingEdge/> Outside, on {{convert|2.5|acre|m2}}, in the Vehicle Park, are a collection of tanks, jeeps, and other military vehicles, along with weapons, including a Nike-Hercules Missile and an Honest John rocket.<ref name=brochure/><ref name=OnTheCuttingEdge/> The current director is Erik Flint. The museum was reopened in 2012 after a two-year renovation. The museum closed on July 2, 2016, and reopened on August 31, 2017, after renovations of the interior exhibits to include dioramas and interactive features.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.northwestmilitary.com/news/news-front/2017/08/the-lewis-army-museum-reopens-this-week/?no-mobile/|title=The Lewis Army Museum reopens this week - News Front - Northwest Military - Home of the Ranger, NW Airlifter & Weekly Volcano}}</ref>
==Red Shield Inn== The Red Shield Inn is one of two surviving Fort Lewis buildings that date back to the World War I era, when the present Fort Lewis was "Camp Lewis". It is the only remaining structure from a onetime recreational area that was called Greene Park.<ref name=brochure/> The building, in Western Stick–style, was built in 1918 by Pratt & Watson Construction Co. of Spokane, Washington, for the Salvation Army, at a cost of $107,000. It was named the Red Shield Inn, based on the Salvation Army symbol. It was {{convert|47,966|sqft|m2}} in size and had approximately 150 rooms. The Salvation Army sold it to the U.S. Army on July 21, 1921, for the nominal price of one dollar. It was briefly known as the Camp Lewis Apartments, then the Camp Lewis Inn, and from 1927 the Fort Lewis Inn.<ref name=brochure/><ref name=OnTheCuttingEdge/><ref name=StoryOfRedShieldInn>[http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/dptms/museum/redshield.htm The Story of the Red Shield Inn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801234023/http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/dptms/museum/redshield.htm |date=2013-08-01 }}. Lewis Army Museum webpage. Joint Base Lewis-McChord official website. Retrieved 2011-08-25.</ref> In August 1972, after the new Fort Lewis Lodge opened near the Main Post Headquarters, the building was preserved to become the new home for the fort's museum. The inn officially became the Fort Lewis Military Museum on July 18, 1973. It gained its NRHP listing in February 1979.<ref name=brochure/><ref name=OnTheCuttingEdge/><ref name=StoryOfRedShieldInn/>
==Gallery== <Gallery> File:FLMM - Viet Cong sandals.jpg|Vietnamese sandals made from recycled tire treads File:Fort Lewis Military Museum - tanks in yard 01.jpg|Fort Lewis Military Museum File:Fort Lewis Military Museum - tanks in yard 02.jpg|Outdoor display File:Fort Lewis Museum 033.JPG|Winter uniform of Korean War U.S. Infantryman
File:Fort Lewis Museum 059.JPG|Huey Helicopter in courtyard File:Fort Lewis Museum 071.JPG|U.S. M103 Heavy Tank </Gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Fort Lewis Military Museum}} * [http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/dptms/museum.htm Lewis Army Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206170847/http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/dptms/museum.htm |date=2013-12-06 }} webpage. Joint Base Lewis-McChord official website * [http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/dptms/museum/redshield.htm The Story of the Red Shield Inn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801234023/http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/dptms/museum/redshield.htm |date=2013-08-01 }}. Lewis Army Museum webpage. Joint Base Lewis-McChord official website * [https://www.fortlewismuseum.com/ The Friends of the Fort Lewis Military Museum] website
{{United States Army history museums}} {{Museums in Puget Sound}}
Category:Government buildings completed in 1918 Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1918 Category:United States Army museums Category:Military and war museums in Washington (state) Category:Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Category:Salvation Army buildings Category:Defunct hotels in Washington (state) Category:Museums in Pierce County, Washington Category:Museums established in 1971 Category:National Register of Historic Places in Pierce County, Washington Category:Joint Base Lewis–McChord