Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome, New York

PARK OVERVIEW

Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome, New York, is a reconstruction of a fort originally built by the British in 1758 during the French and Indian War. After the war it was abandoned and left to deteriorate until the start of the American Revolution. At that time the Patriots / Americans occupied and began renovating the dilapidated fort. It saw action only once.

In July 1777, British colonel Barry St. Leger began his march east from Lake Ontario to rendezvous with General John Burgoyne, who was marching south from Montreal in an attempt to capture Albany, New York. Leger’s route took him directly to Fort Stanwix. Not realizing the strength of the fort, Ledger decided to lay siege and starve the Americans into surrendering. The siege began on August 3rd and lasted for 21 days. When word reached him that American general Benedict Arnold was marching from Saratoga with reinforcements, Ledger abandoned his plan and retreated. His failure to join with Burgoyne was certainly a major factor in the British defeat at Saratoga, which is considered the turning point of the war. Burgoyne surrendered his entire army to the Americans, the first time in history that an entire British army surrendered to another country. This victory is what swayed the French to join the war on the side of the Americans. They officially entered the war in February 1778.

Fort Stanwix remained a military outpost after the war, but very little effort was put into its maintenance. In May 1781, it was severely damaged by fire and never rebuilt. Around 1830, what remained was removed, and the city of Rome grew up around the site (and on top of it).

In 1935, Congress created Fort Stanwix National Monument. However, the federal government was not authorized to fund the park’s development—the land or the money to buy the land would have to be donated to the National Park Service. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the city of Rome was able to purchase the land. The National Park Service conducted an excavation of the site in the early 1970s and was able to locate the footprint of the fort. Original maps, drawings, and construction plans from 1758 through 1781 were still in existence, so it was now possible to build a fairly accurate reproduction of Fort Stanwix on its original location. Construction began in 1974, and the park opened to the public in time for the Bicentennial celebration in 1976.

Today the park consists of the reconstructed fort and the Marinus Willett Visitor Center, which opened in 2005. Named after the second in command during the 1777 siege, the Visitor Center features a small museum, three short films, and a book and souvenir store. Exploration of the fort itself is self guided, but Rangers are inside to answer questions, give short history lectures, and conduct demonstrations.