Niagara Falls Part III: Old Fort Niagara

Youngstown, NY - Events of Monday, July 16, 2013

Fort Niagara was only a short distance away from 4-Mile Creek State Park. We were interested in learning more about the history of the fort, so we headed there on Monday morning.

Although the Old Fort Niagara is part of Fort Niagara State Park, the fort itself is operated by a non-profit group called the Old Fort Niagara Association. Admission is $12 ($11 for seniors).

We arrived about 10:40, and there was a video about the fort scheduled to be shown at 11:00. That gave us time to look around museum in the visitor center first. The museum traces the history of the area and of the fort and displays artifacts unearthed during archaeological digs.

Margery in the visitor center museum

The video is well done and gives an excellent history of the fort. The first fort on the banks of Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Niagara River was Fort Conti built in 1678 by French explorer LaSalle. Fort Conti, which was little more than a trading post, burned later that year. Fort Denonville was built by the Governor of New France in 1687 and was the second fort built on the site. Fort Denonville was abandoned and the stockades were pulled down the following year due to conflicts with the Iroquois Indians.

Finally, in 1726, the French built a permanent fort on the site - Fort Niagara. They realized the strategic importance of the area at the mouth of the Niagara River. Back then, the best way to travel was on water since there were no roads. Ships could travel up the St. Lawrence River and across Lake Ontario. Smaller boats had to be used to travel up the Niagara River because of they had to be portaged around the falls and rapids. Once above the rapids, boats could gain access to the entire center of the North American Continent by means of the Great Lakes and the many rivers that surround them. Protecting this vital access route meant France could control the center of the continent.

After the video, a docent was available to answer questions and to lead the group into the fort. It isn't a full tour of the fort, just an additional introduction.

The building the French erected at the mouth of the Niagara River was fortified and could house a small garrison of soldiers, but it was constructed to look like a large stone house and trading post. That was done to ease the suspicions of the Iroquois, who would not allow a masonry fort. The stone building became known as the French Castle, although that name didn't come into use until the 1800s. The stone house and a small stockade were all that were on the site initially. Even the small building to the left that served as the bakehouse wasn't added until 1862.

The French Castle - the original building of Fort Niagara

After the introductory tour by the docent, we started the self-guided portion of our tour by heading to the French Castle. One of the most important features of the structure was the trade room. In addition to being a military fort, Fort Niagara was also a trading post. Indians would bring furs, which were highly sought after, to trade for manufactured goods brought by ship from Europe. The fort also stocked supplies for trading expeditions heading to the interior.

Storeroom of trade goods

Most of the garrison was housed within the stone house in the early days of the fort. 

Barracks for enlisted men

Commanding officer's quarters

The chapel at the fort was the first permanent church in western New York. 

Chapel

There are a number of re-enactors at the fort including soldiers who periodically conduct drills and fire their muskets and craftsmen like the woodworker shown below who was building a stool.

Craftsman building a stool

In the mid-1740s and 1750s when tensions between Britain and France were growing, France began to expand the fort. The main entrance to the fort was on the lake side, but the gate shown below was added in 1756 on the land side. The gate has a drawbridge that could be raised in the event of trouble. The original gatehouse was wood. The existing stone gate is a 1931 reconstruction.

Reconstructed stone gatehouse

The French also added a larger powder magazine in 1757. The magazine is the building in the distance in the photo below. There is a thick layer of earth between the roof and an arched ceiling inside to protect the gunpowder in the magazine from mortar shells fired at the building.

Powder magazine in the distance, storehouse to the left

The storehouse to the left in the above photo was built by the British in 1762 to hold provisions for their large garrison. Inside the storehouse was an exhibit that demonstrated the effectiveness of pulleys to lift heavy loads. To the left in the photo was a single pulley which required a lot of force to lift the heavy barrel. Compound pulleys on the other two barrels made them much easier to lift.

Demonstration of compound pulleys

The French and Indian War broke out between Britain and France in 1754 and lasted until 1763. The British captured Fort Niagara in 1859 after a 19-day siege. Following the war, the British expanded the fort further. Among other things, they added two reboubts - one in 1770 and a second in 1771. Reboubts are kind of a fort within a fort. They have cannons on the top deck and sleeping quarters on the second floor.

One of two reboubts added by the British in 1770 and 1771

Quarters for soldiers on the second floor of the redoubt

Mattresses would have been placed side by side on the wooden platforms on each side of the room in the photo above.

During the American War for Independence, fur trade continued with the British using Fort Niagara to protect the Niagara Falls portage route. With the area firmly in British hands, loyalists fleeing from the American rebels in Pennsylvania and New York took refuge at Fort Niagara. Many of them were recruited to fight against the rebels. Raids from Fort Niagara on Pennsylvania and New York farms threatened the American food supply. American forces attempted to retaliate, but only got within 80 miles of the fort and were never able to capture it.

Britain ceded Fort Niagara to the United Stated in 1883 after the Treaty of Paris was signed ending the American War for Independence. Britain didn't actually relinquish possession of the fort to the United States until 1896. After that, Britain continued to maintain a presence in the region by building Fort George directly across the river in Canada.

When the War of 1812 broke out between the United States and Britain, Fort George had the Americans at Fort Niagara at a disadvantage. The cannon battery at Fort George sat 9' higher than that at Fort Niagara, and Fort Niagara's main defenses faced the wrong direction to protect against cannon fire from across the river. The Americans overcame height difference by removing the roof from the French Castle and converting its top floor into a cannon deck.

After a long siege from Fort Niagara and from American ships offshore on Lake Ontario, Fort George fell to the Americans in 1813. The Americans burned what was left of the fort, and also burned the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (then called Newark) to prevent the British from gaining winter shelter. The British were so angered by what they saw as the senseless destruction of private property that they launched a stealth offensive on the night of Dec. 19, 1813 and captured Fort Niagara. At the end of the War of 1812, Britain ceded Fort Niagara to the United States a second time.

Construction of the Erie and Welland Canals around the mid-1820s reduced the strategic importance of Fort Niagara. Gone was the necessity of guarding the portage route around Niagara Falls and the rapids.

Although the fort was unoccupied at the start of the Civil War, the Union was afraid Britain would intervene on the side of the Confederacy so a garrison was sent to the fort and the earthworks surrounding the fort were replaced by brick bastions in 1863.

Brick bastions built in 1863

Cannons were placed in casements within the bastion.

Cannon casements within the brick bastion

Fort Niagara never saw any action during the Civil War because relations with Britain improved. The fort was used primarily for training during that time.

Military armaments during the Civil War had advanced to the point where the fortifications of Fort Niagara, even with the additions of the brick bastions, were obsolete. Therefore, in the 1870s, construction of a "new" Fort Niagara was begun. The new fort was used primarily for training in the late 1800s and during WWI and WWII. It was also used as a POW camp during WWII for troops captured in Africa and Europe.

Old Fort Niagara was sadly neglected by the 1920s. Fortunately, the historical significance of the site was recognized, and a group of concerned citizens formed the Old Fort Niagara Association which restored the buildings and which operates and maintains the site today.

In 1963, the army left new Fort Niagara. The only military presence today is a Coast Guard station.

Fort Niagara Coast Guard Station

Fort Niagara is the site of the first lighthouse on the Great Lakes. It was originally a lantern room on the roof of the French Castle. The stone lighthouse pictured below was built outside the fort in 1871. We stopped for a photo on the way to the car.

Fort Niagara Lighthouse

From Fort Niagara, we headed to Niagara Falls for another adventure. We'll tell you all about it in our next post.

Comments

[Marsha Weaver]

I still remember learning about Old Fort Niagara in Ohio History or American History class. Thanks for the memorials.

The Castle looks in pretty good shape. The Cannon casements look scary to me. What a great tour.