Fort Stanwix National Monument

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Joyride with the Joneses

Visited: July 2018

Duration: 2-3 hours

Traveling across New York took us right in to Rome, New York for this fabulous National Monument. Right in the middle of town is a step back in history to interpret the events of the siege of 1777. In 1776 the Continental Congress ordered General George Washington to have Fort Stanwix rebuilt to protect the emerging nation’s northwest border and to secure a foothold for future expansion.

In 1777, the siege of Fort Stanwix begins on August 3rd by British forces. Col. Peter Gansevoort vowed to hold the fort “to the last extremity”. After 21 days of siege British forces abandon Fort Stanwix after American reinforcements approach, under the control of Major General Benedict Arnold. This victory, coupled with the defeat of the British attack and surrender of Saratoga, led to alliances between the United States, France and the Netherlands.

Our first stop here was the the Willett Center, we stopped in for an orientation to Fort Stanwix and the American Revolution. Great museum with fun displays. You can even build your own fort.

We headed out to the Fort on the paved trail and headed in over the drawbridge.

We stopped off at the West Barracks (Visitor Contact Station) to watch a short film. We then wandered the Fort (some was under construction so we couldn’t go in some of the buildings.

Here are some pictures of the East Barracks you can see the difference in the officer’s and soldier’s barracks.

We walked around the fort and talked with volunteers that were all really informative and more than happy to answer any questions you have.

We headed back to the Willett Center to find a few more answers we were looking for in our books. This Junior Ranger was hard, parents had to help with a few of these, but in the end we “conquered” it.