Fort Stanwix Act Turns 83

A big happy birthday goes out to Fort Stanwix National Monument of Rome. This year, the Fort turns 83.

On August 21st 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the “Fort Stanwix Act” into law, for “preservation as a national monument for the benefit and inspiration of the people... under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior by the National Park Service...”

According to the Fort's Facebook page, this act made Fort Stanwix the first official historic site to be incorporated into the modern National Park Service. A big happy birthday to an amazing part of Central New York.

Known as "the fort that never surrendered," Fort Stanwix, under the command of Col. Peter Gansevoort, successfully repelled a prolonged siege, in August 1777, by British, German, Loyalist, Canadian, and American Indian troops and warriors commanded by British Gen. Barry St. Leger. The failed siege combined with the battles at Oriskany, Bennington, and Saratoga thwarted a coordinated effort by the British in 1777, under the leadership of Gen. John Burgoyne, to take the northern colonies, and led to American alliances with France and the Netherlands. From that point on, America was born.

From January to December, Fort Stanwix National Monument is open daily 9 am to 5 pm, year round except for January 1st, Thanksgiving Day, and December 25th.

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