Barker Cabin chosen as FW’s top historical story

Published 9:30 am Thursday, March 5, 2026

For the nation’s 250th anniversary, the Historical Society of Federal Way asked visitors at the Heritage Center what one story defines the spirit of the local community.

On Feb. 21 and Feb. 23, physical votes were cast to choose between four historic stories in Federal Way that highlighted resilience, voice, neighbors and industry.

The John Barker Cabin was announced as the winner on Feb. 24 to represent the American spirit of Federal Way as a symbol of the resilience of the pioneer spirit.

The historical society said the winner will become the centerpiece exhibit at the annual Red, White and Blues Festival, where it will be unveiled and surrounded by the community’s wishes for the year 2076.

The historical society hasn’t revealed exactly how it plans to display the Barker Cabin or what related artifact will stand in for the structure at the event, but the pioneering spirit it represents will be central to the display.

This exercise in identifying community values is part of an initiative across Washington state to collaborate with museums, historical societies and other civic organizations to celebrate the semiquincentennial anniversary of the founding of the United States.

Museums across the state are participating in many different ways, guided by themes from the group leading Washington’s America250 commemoration.

This initiative is called Out of Many, One (OMO) and invites museums to “partner with their communities to identify and exhibit an object, image or artwork from their collections that reflects the American experience,” according to the website.

These items will all be represented on an online interactive map and displayed in their communities during summer 2026.

To develop the ideas for Federal Way to vote on, the Historical Society of Federal Way board weighed which attributes and values had the strongest threads throughout the local community’s history.

Voters were invited to choose the winning Barker Cabin if they believed that the city is defined by “resilience and the determination to build something from nothing.”

This attribute is highlighted by John Barker’s journey and “the grit required to homestead in 1883,” which included walking across the country to “build a home from scratch in the woods,” according to the society’s materials.

The Barker Cabin is currently located at the entrance to West Hylebos Wetlands Park on South 348th Street and Fourth Avenue South in Federal Way. It is the oldest original structure in Federal Way and has been moved twice, once in 1955 to a historic installation at Federal Shopping Way, and once in 1993 when it was moved to the current site.

Other options for voters included the Betts Carousel, representing family-centered living and the community heart; artifacts from the Conna family’s life, representing civic voice and political action for civil rights; and industry objects related to the formative manufacturing and fabrication companies that represent creative fortitude and commitment to regional economic development.

The historical society held an open house and invited community members to take in historic displays on each of these options, then vote using a postcard.

The display on the Betts Carousel highlights the historic journey of the carousel from its original home in Redondo to its current location in Enchanted Village at the Wild Waves Theme Park. With the announcement of the theme park’s closure next year, the carousel’s future is uncertain.

Charles Betts opened the first rides in Redondo in 1910, but the carousel was installed within the “Amusedrome” in 1922, according to the society’s display. The carousel was moved to the Woodland Park Zoo in 1953, then “returned briefly to Redondo in 1960 before embarking on a tour of the region’s most iconic parks,” including the Seattle Center, Point Defiance Park and, of course, Wild Waves, where it is still functioning today.

The Betts family has been an integral part of maintaining the carousel, with family members all learning how to sand, repair and paint the horses and details: “This hands-on family involvement transformed the carousel from a simple amusement into a multigenerational legacy of art and engineering.”

Federal Way also has an extensive legacy of industry, which led to the third option focusing on logging and manufacturing history in the area.

Lumber processing tools and photographs of massive felled trees fill a full corner of the Heritage Center, along with explanations of the impact of that industry on the region. Federal Way has been referred to as a company town and grew with the population of workers at Weyerhaeuser and Boeing.

The Conna family has received more recognition throughout the city in the past two years, including the renaming of a Federal Way park after the family within the bounds of what was once the land they homesteaded.

Their display at the Heritage Center includes an excerpt of newspaper text listing the polling place they had on their property and more.

The displays that were not selected will still be accessible and available for the public at the Heritage Center, 2645 S. 312th St.