Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Fort Niagara is located on a bluff on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth in Lake Ontario near Youngstown, New York. The original fort, often called Old Fort Niagara to distinguish it from the newer military fort, which remains in use by the US military, has been restored and is now serving as a museum.
Fort Niagara was founded by the French in 1678, and a new and extended fort was built by the French troops and garrisoned with 100 troops in 1687. All but 12 had died because of disease and the winter cold when a relief force arrived from Montreal. The fort was abandoned in 1688. A new building, a trading post for trading with the Iroquis Indians, was constructed at the same site in 1726. As tensions increased between the French and British, it was expanded to the current size.
The tensions between the French and British in North America developed into a full-blown war, and the fort fell to the British in the Battle of Fort Niagara in July 1759 after a successful ambush of the relief force sent to rescue the garrison. It remained British for the following 37 years.
Fort Niagara served as the Loyalist base in New York during the American Revolutionary War for Colonel John Butler and his Butler's Rangers, a Tory militia in the command of the British Army. Lt. Col. William Stacy, a high-ranking officer of the Continental Army, was captured at the attack on Cherry Valley, New York by Butler's Rangers. He was held captive at Fort Niagara during the summer of 1779.
Niagara become notorious a a place for drinking, brawling, whoring and cheating. Crude taverns, stores and bordellos sprouted on "the Bottom," the riverside flat below the fort.
The fort was awarded to the United States after the American War of Independence ended in 1783. However, the British remained in control of the region, and gave land grants to American loyalists fleeing the republicans. The U.S. troops gained control over the fort in 1796. The British recaptured Fort Niagara in 1812, and at the end of the War of 1812, it was ceded to the U.S.
The type of fort represented by Fort Niagara does not stand up well to bombardment by artillery. After the Civil War, the military moved the fortifications outside the original fort. The new fortifications had access to the railway, and a 1,000-yard rifle range for training troops. It was used to train soldiers for the Spanish-American War and World War I. During World War II, it was used to hold German prisoners of war from North Africa.
The Old Fort was turned into a museum in 1931, after the Old Fort Niagara Association received rights to preserve and operate the fort. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. The U.S. Army left the fort in 1963, but the U.S. Coast Guard is still operating from the fort. Currently, it is part of the Fort Niagara State Park and Museum.