Museum Review - Old Fort Niagara

Old Fort Niagara is a bit of an unusual site for me to cover. Despite being at the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario, it's not really a coastal fort, because 20 miles up the Niagara River is Niagara Falls, which is a bit of an obstacle to navigation. Instead, it was established in 1726 by the French to control the portage route between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie and dominate trade through the Great Lakes. Things were fairly quiet until the outbreak of the Seven Years War, when the British managed to capture the Fort, and ultimately all of the territory the French had in the northern portion of North America. It was an important position for the British during the American revolution, ensuring they kept a hold on the western Great Lakes. Despite the territory being given to the US at the end of the war in 1783, the British didn't withdraw until 1796, when the Jay Treaty finally convinced them to hand over the forts in the then-western portion of the US.

The fort's parade ground, from one of the towers

Website

The fort's last war was the War of 1812, when it spent a while fighting artillery duels with Fort George, its British counterpart on the other side of the Niagara River before the British managed to capture it. It was returned to the Americans after the end of the war, and while the position was improved a couple of times during tension with Britain in the rest of the 19th century, first when rebellions broke out in Canada in 1837-1838 which saw a stone wall built along the riverfront, and then during the Civil War, which saw a brick casemate wall constructed along the fort's landward side. Since then, things with Canada have been peaceful (so far), and the fort was turned into a museum.

The French Castle

The site itself is neat to see, if sometimes confusing because of the layers of history present. There's a visitor center with a small museum, and then you're let out into the area in front of the various fortifications, the outermost of which are star fort style trenches dug during the Seven Years War, and redug more recently by the site. Behind them is the Civil War-era brick wall, and behind that are the buildings. The most notable of these, all the way in the back, is the French Castle, the original building on the site, which was a trading post/barracks/fortification in case the locals attacked. They've done a good job of recreating the various spaces that had been present, mostly when the French ran the place and it was on the edge of the world. Other attractions include various artillery batteries, a couple of redoubts added by the British, and a really detailed model of the site as it was during the Revolutionary War.

A British solider in America. Hopefully, we can take care of this soon.

There's also a fairly strong living history aspect. There was a musket demonstration, which is well worth it if you've not seen a black powder musket fired before (although be aware that it is very loud) and a couple of guides in period dress wandering around. They were competent, as was the normal tour guide, and the signage was all reasonably well done, if a bit sparser than I would like. There's also a lovely view out over Lake Ontario, with bits of Toronto barely visible on the horizon.

Bulbasaur thought Niagara Falls was impressive

So on the whole, Fort Niagara is worth a visit, although there are two other things in the region that bear mentioning. First, Niagara Falls, which is about 20 minutes south and quite impressive. But if you're not a waterfall person and/or have extra time to kill in the Buffalo area, the Fort is a decent way to spend a couple hours. Second, and probably more importantly, there's the Buffalo Naval & Military Park, with missile cruiser Little Rock, destroyer The Sullivans and submarine Croaker. That had absolutely topped my list for things to do in the Buffalo area, but at this point they are only open on weekends, and we were through on a Tuesday. At some point, I will get back and pay them a proper visit.