Grand Old Fourth of July

At nine o’clock on the morning of the Fourth, runners leave Steilacoom Town Hall at 1717 Lafayette Street on the Four on the Fourth, a four-mile road race that runs out and back along the waterfront. The kids’ mile starts ten minutes later. The course is USATF certified and mostly flat. Gift cards go to the most patriotically dressed, and every child who finishes the mile gets a ribbon and a small American flag. Pets are not allowed on the course. The 2026 run was the 37th.

The run opens what the Steilacoom Chamber of Commerce calls the Grand Old Fourth of July Celebration, which it presents with the Town of Steilacoom in Pierce County. The chamber’s own page calls it “the event Steilacoom is most known for.” The 2026 celebration fell on Saturday, July 4, and ran from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. There was no admission charge.

Lafayette Street, nine to five

The street fair opens on Lafayette Street at the same hour as the race. The chamber sorts its sellers three ways: craft vendors, edible vendors who sell pre-packaged food, and food vendors who cook on the spot. Booths stay open until 5 p.m., and some stay on until 9. Among them is the chamber’s own barbecue booth. Its proceeds, with those from the chamber’s cookbook sales, go to Steilacoom High School scholarships presented every June.

From 10 a.m. there is entertainment all day at the post office, and the Tribal Museum runs a fry bread outpost on South Lafayette Street. From noon to four the ice cream social is served on the museum patio. The Historical Museum and the Wagon Shop are open on Rainier Street during the same hours. The town’s Fireworks Committee page sums up the day as an “old-fashioned, hometown Independence Day Parade, Street Fair, Ice Cream Social, and Dance.”

Decorated Wheels and the one o’clock parade

At 12:30 the children gather at Perkins Park, kitty-corner from the Steilacoom Pub & Grill. They bring bicycles, tricycles, strollers and wagons for the Decorated Wheels parade. No application is needed. Helmets are required, and younger children must ride with an adult. The route goes up Rainier, down Main, and down Lafayette. The chamber’s June 2026 notice ended: “Have fun and decorate your bike! Be creative!”

The main parade steps off at 1:00 p.m. at Rainier and Lafayette Street. Entries check in at a desk at Fifth and Gove. The parade instructions route drivers there west on Steilacoom Boulevard, which curves “through the tree tunnel” and becomes Rainier Street heading south. Each entry carries a banner or sign large enough for the announcer to read. Candy and flags may be handed out, but the rules forbid throwing them and forbid flyers entirely. Entries keep moving the whole way, except for one brief stop at Lafayette and Wilkes Street. Any entry with animals must come with pooper scoopers. One photograph of the parade, taken at 1:11 p.m. on July 4, 2006, shows a military bass drummer on the street. The photographer captioned it “Steilacoom, Washington. Near Ft. Lewis.”

A barge on the waterfront

The family street dance fills Lafayette Street from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. At about 10:30 the fireworks go up from a barge on the waterfront, over Puget Sound. The display is run entirely by the Steilacoom Citizens’ Fireworks Committee, an all-volunteer group from the town. It is paid for entirely by voluntary contributions from private citizens and businesses, and the committee says every dollar collected goes into the display.

The sources give different costs. The chamber’s 2026 page puts the show at “in excess of $40,000.” The town’s committee page says “in excess of $47,000,” notes that the cost goes up every year, and sets the annual goal at about $50,000. The Mayor names donors of $100 or more in “Around Town,” the newsletter that comes with the utility bill. Garrette Custom Homes was the gold sponsor for 2026. The list of smaller donors included the Steilacoom Kiwanis, the Steilacoom Barber Shop, and the Steilacoom Pub and Grill. The chamber gives one piece of advice: “Better get here early to enjoy the activities and especially to get your spot to view the fireworks show!”

A sea captain’s chamber and the 1991 revival

The chamber that runs the day was organized by Capt. Neil Henly. He was born in Scotland on September 1, 1855, ran away to sea at fourteen, and eventually made his way to Steilacoom. He was appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal in 1882, and he later served as the town’s marshal and tax collector. Henly retired in 1922 and lived on McNeil Island. In 1936 he came back to Steilacoom and founded the chamber, and he served as its first president. He died in 1943 at 88.

The chamber then lay dormant for many years. In the spring of 1991, Maj. Gen. John Hemphill, retired from the U.S. Army, joined and became its next president. According to the chamber’s history, the Steilacoom Citizens’ Fireworks Committee formed as “an offshoot of that revival.” Historic Fort Steilacoom also dates its part in the Fourth from 1991, when a mountain howitzer was the centerpiece of its decorated float. The town’s committee page gives a longer history: it says Steilacoom has hosted its Fourth of July celebration and fireworks “for more than forty years.”

In June 2021, Patch reported that Steilacoom had cancelled its annual parade and fireworks because of the pandemic. Both went ahead again on July 4, 2026. The next day the chamber posted its thanks to “our fearless leader Larry Whelan,” the chamber president who also coordinates the street fair. It also thanked the public safety crews, Town staff, the Fireworks Committee and the volunteers, and closed: “Thank you to everyone who came out to Steilacoom to celebrate.”