Fort Stanwix National Monument, a Revolutionary War Fort in upstate New York

Blogging, blogging. It's something that's kind of new to me or at least I don't feel that I have the hang of it, at least not yet.  So, let's introduce ourselves. My name is Peter Huston, I am a resident of upstate New York and have always had an interest in the local history, particularly that of the American Revolutionary War. You will see much on that here.  

Long ago, I developed an interest in other cultures and countries and it somehow became largely focused on the nations of east Asia and their histories and cultures. At one time, my goal was to become a professor of Chinese and related history, but I wound up with a master's degree instead of a Ph.D. The paper actually says East Asian Studies, not history, but the bulk of my studies, including the Master's Thesis, were focused on history.  If interested, you can find the thesis on line here: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/8399  Therefore, there will be much on that here.

I am also a miniature wargamer and have been enjoying this hobby since middle school. Therefore, there will be much on that hobby here as well. 

Use the tabs, search subjects, please feel free to explore. As I write this, on March 25, 2020, we are in the midst of a recommended lock down. and I hope to use some of this time to post things, finishing up the unfinished drafts and photos that have been sitting here forever. 

I hope you will consider subscribing to this blog or making a purchase through our links or leaving a comment or forwarding a link to an interesting post to others. Anything that shows interest and appreciation in this project would be much appreciated. In the meantime, please feel free to browse a bit. There's a lot here. Perhaps something will interest you. 

====

Fort Stanwix

In the small city of Rome, New York, not too far from Utica and Syracuse, and just down the road from the Oriskany Battlefield and the retirement home of Von Steuben, lies Fort Stanwix National Historical Park. I visited their last winter one day and had an interesting visit and took lots of pictures. 

Remember what I said about blogging being new to me? This is one of those points where I am forced to make a choice and lack much experience. Should I, for instance, merely show the ten favorite pictures or so? The normal way for a publication aimed at the general public. Or should I dump every single picture of the place I have on the blog? My suspicion is that this would be preferred by the hardcore readers. Those who wish to really know how the fort was put together or might be interested in modelling a replica of the fort or one like it and perhaps one of these photos might prove useful when they model the nooks and crannies far away from the front entrance. Lacking feedback, I'm going to post all the photos. As mentioned, these photos have been sitting here since last winter waiting to be posted, and it seems about time to share them, even if it's not done perfectly. Again, feedback is appreciated. If you have a question about one of the photos, try leaving a question as a comment and I'll do what I can to answer it.

In the past I have tried to produce more in-depth pieces for my blog, and will do so again from time to time. Here's one from my trip to the fort. It focuses on the representation of the Indians in the visitor center exhibits. Because it's been covered before, I decided not to reshare the bulk of the photos that I used on this page.
https://history-for-fun-profit-and-insight.blogspot.com/2018/12/indians-in-american-revolution.html

The History of Fort Stanwix

Second question for a novice blogger. How much time should I spend offering the basic history of Fort Stanwix? Should I offer a well-written, popular history of the event? Or, by contrast, as I have some academic training, should I instead take the lofty academic approach, and find some question, some aspect of the events or context of what happened at Fort Stanwix in 1777 and research and explore it in depth, with the ultimate goal being to ad to mankind's collective understanding of the event? (This is what academics are encouraged to do when writing a master's thesis or PhD dissertation. You can see some of that in my MA thesis, linked to above. Be advised, it often produces interesting results but it does take a lot of time.) 

But this is a blog. And, to some extent, the goal is to produce interesting content quickly and regularly. And therefore I will take a third path and merely offer these links. If you wish to know the history of the fort, follow them. Why should I reinvent the wheel? 

1. Fort Stanwix National Monument official site
2.  Battlefields.org
3. A revolutionary day website

All look interesting and provide a good overview of the fort and its history.

Photos of the Outside of the Fort 

While I recommend that you contact the fort staff before visiting to learn hows of operation and access policies (the link is above in the history of the fort section), when I was there last year, the policy was that during warm months the fort's main gate was unlocked during daytime hours and more or less full access was provided to daytime visitors. During the winter, when I visited, there was an hourly tour given by a well informed ranger in costume. If one wished, you could obtain one of those recorded self-guided walking tour machines and it would give information about the important points on the small area immediately surrounding the fort. As the fort is now located inside an urban area, it does not have vast sweeping tracts of land.

I took both the self-guided and the guided tour as I arrive just a little too late to go with the ranger and had time to spare.'

Here are several photos that I took. I hope they answer at least some of any questions you might have about the fort and its construction.

Photos from Inside the Barracks and other 

Buildings inside the Fort 

The Visitors' Center

Outside the Fort

Finally, just a few shots of the outside of the fort and the monument. I like to include some of these so that people can get a sense of the site in its modern context and setting.

A very badly focused photo of the nearby "Colonial Laundromat," a funny name, I thought. If you wish, learn more here: https://www.eaglenewsonline.com/news/new/business/2018/07/22/a-cny-success-story/