Fort Ontario

Infobox_nrhp | name =Fort Ontario
nrhp_type =


caption = Fort Ontario
location= Oswego, New York
locmapin = New York
area =
built =1839
architect= Unknown
architecture= No Style Listed
added = December 18, 1970
governing_body = State
refnum=70000426cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Fort Ontario is an historic fort situated by the City of Oswego, in Oswego County, New York in the United States of America.

Fort Ontario was one of several forts erected by the British to protect the area around the east end of Lake Ontario. The original Fort Ontario was erected in 1755, during the French and Indian War. At that time its name was the "Fort of the Six Nations," but the fort was destroyed by French forces and was rebuilt in 1759.

During the American Revolution, a detachment from the 3rd New York Regiment destroyed the fort in July, 1778, after the British abandoned it. The British returned and rebuilt the fort in 1782. There was an aborted attack on the fort by Marinus Willet in 1783. The British held the fort until 1796 after the signing of Jay's Treaty.

2nd Brigade of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division called Fort Ontario home until the brigade was inactivated on June 1, 1940.

During World War II Fort Ontario was home to approximately 982 Jewish refugees, from August 1944 to February 1946. Fort Ontario was the first and only attempt by the United States to shelter Jewish refugees during the war. After the end of the war the refugees were kept in internment due to disagreements concerning whether or not to allow them to become United States citizens. In January 1946, the decision was made to allow them to become citizens, and by February all of the Jewish refugees were allowed to leave Fort Ontario.

The restored fort is open to the public as a state historic site. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

Fort Ontario was built with two other forts in the period, Fort George and Fort Oswego.

References

* Graymont, Barbara, "The Iroquois in the American Revolution", 1972, ISBN 0-8156-0083-6

External links

* [http://www.oswegony.org/ABOUT_fort.html Historic Fort Ontario]
* [http://nysparks.state.ny.us/sites/info.asp?siteID=9 Fort Ontario State Historic Site] , official site
* [http://www.fortontario.com/ Friends of Fort Ontario]