March 14 at noon there will be a rally at Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY to try and keep the state from closing it down. Most local news and elected officials have confirmed they will be in attendance and speaking out for it to be kept open, the public is invited, and reenactors of all periods are invited to attend in period dress, which should make for an interesting crowd!
For those outside the area unfamiliar with it, Fort Ontario was originally built around the time of the French and Indian (Seven Years) War, or over 250 years ago, and was in continual occupation and operation by either the British or American armies until after WWII. It was originally a large wooden star-fort (much like Fort Stanwix in Rome), but currently exists as it was rebuilt by the US Corps of Engineers during and after the Civil war as a stone five-pointed star fort to defend the harbor at Oswego and the outlet of the Oswego Canal into Lake Ontario. It was the site of many British and Native American assemblies during the American Revolution (including the jumping off point for St. Leger on his campaign that led to the siege of Fort Stanwix and the Battle of Oriskany), and was slated to be the next target of American operations when the war ended in 1783 (the expedition was already gathering at Fort Stanwix when word of the treaty reached North America). It was occupied by the US following the war, and was also the site of an attempted British invasion during the War of 1812, which was repelled by the US.
The site was occupied and garrisoned, usually by a company or two of Infantry, several batteries of Artillery and an Engineer detachment (all US Regulars) from before the Civil War until about the time of the Spanish-American War, when it was temporarily closed, except for a caretaker and a small maintenance crew provided by the Army, to save money (the British in Canada no longer being seen as a threat). It was reopened as a training and embarkation point in WWI, and was garrisoned by a small detachment until WWII, when it was used to house refugees from the Holocaust until 1947- the only site in the US so used. It was finally closed as an active US Army post following the departure of the refugees. Its been open as a NYS Historical Site since the 1970's, and is one of the most intact and well preserved examples of a mid-19th century stone fortification anywhere in the northern United States. It's also one of the most scenic, interesting and educational of all the historical sights along the US side of the Great Lakes seaway.
Help us save the Fort from being abandoned again!
