Old Fort Niagara, located in Youngstown NY, has over 300 years of history to discover. Explore highlights of this popular, history-rich attraction.

A Keystone Location in Early American History

From Pre-History to the 19th Century

Old Fort Niagara features one of the nation’s finest collections of original 18th and early 19th-century military architecture and related artifacts. Museum collections span the years of pre-contact through the present. These collections include six 18th-century buildings, the oldest extant structures of any type in the Great Lakes region.  The earliest, known as the French Castle, was built in 1726 and is the oldest stone building in North America, situated between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. They also have the archeological collection (103,000 specimens) which is composed entirely of objects excavated at Fort Niagara or related sites and includes a small quantity of pre-historic material, large numbers of historical artifacts from 1679 to the present, and floral and faunal material.

Yet Old Fort Niagara is a massive place with a lot of interesting things to see beyond its collection of artifacts from bygone eras. There’s the Old Niagara Lighthouse, for instance, that was built in 1872.

The Fort Niagara Lighthouse

A very brief history of the lighthouse is Fort Niagara, which was completed in 1727. Its main feature, the “French Castle,” was designed to look like a trading house. Still, it was actually a garrison, complete with a storeroom, quarters, and well capable of resisting an Indian attack. The French (the initial builders of the fort) built the fort/lighthouse initially as a way to control trade routes around the waterways of Lake Ontario and Niagara Falls. By 1905, after many years of the lighthouse seeing countless naval battles and changing possession, it ended up in the hands of America (surprise, surprise). By 1905, it had transferred over from the War Department to the Department of Commerce and Labor, and the following year an iron oil house with a capacity of 540 gallons was erected 25 feet south of the tower.

Then the Coast Guard chose to discontinue the lighthouse and instead replace it with an automated light on a radio tower northwest of the fort. On December 9, 1998, the lighthouse property was conveyed to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation where it was later incorporated into the Fort Niagara State Park. That’s much more than a brief history lesson, but now you get the gist of how the lighthouse got to be and how it was eventually incorporated into The Old Fort Niagara we all know today.

Bringing History to Life

Yet what’s a historical place like Old Fort Niagara without events like historical reenactments and lively tours? (It’s a historical place not worth its salt, is what it is.) Some events coming to Old Fort Niagara include ‘French Heritage Days’, which run all day Friday, November 5th, and Saturday, November 6th, 2021 in which participants will get the chance to explore the French occupation of Fort Niagara and the Niagara Frontier. Learn about French military life, foodways, architecture and fortification, native diplomacy, the fur trade, religion, and much more. If you ever wondered how the French lived during their time occupying the fort, this will give you the best chance without buying a time machine (fingers crossed it’ll happen one day).

Fun Events & Tours 

Then there’s ‘Skip the Mall, Storm the Fort!’ Running Friday, November 26th, 2021 10:00 am – Friday, November 26th, 2021 4:00 pm where you’ll be able to witness 18th-century cooking demonstrations, musket firings, fur trading demonstrations and more. It’s guaranteed to be interesting at the very least and, if nothing else, will give you a greater appreciation of living in the 21st century (I mean, who wants to read by candlelight when you can use your Kindle? Plus reading in dim light hurts your eyes. Optometrists in the 18th century must have been making a killing). But let’s not forget the tours the fort offers as well, like ‘The Castle by Candlelight’, where participants will get a tour of the Great Lakes’ oldest building illuminated entirely by candles. Visitors to the event will also enjoy handmade natural decorations by the award-winning Youngstown Garden Club.

Throughout the Fort, visitors will encounter members of the Fort’s 18th-century garrison demonstrating everything from quill pens to fur trading to traditional games of skill. The tour is bound to be a blast not only for its fun historical activities, but visually seeing the fort all lit up in the night will truly be something to behold.

Those Who Don’t Learn From History …

Old Fort Niagara is more than just an old military fort that hasn’t seen any action in many years. It’s a piece of living history that the people in charge of the fort make sure has the proper activities and tours to keep the general public invested in it. Because even though it’s a part of our distant past, there’s still much we can learn from it. So, if you wish to glean a little of what it was like to live in the time where the fort was active, or you wish just to see how something so old is still standing and why people keep coming to see it year after year, go explore some of the highlights of Old Fort Niagara.Highlights of Old Fort Niagara