Fort de Chartres
Along the banks of the Mississippi France erected numerous towns and forts to protect the trade of the Louisiana and Illinois country. This fort was one of the more imposing stone structures.

  (left) Model of Fort St. Frederick
Fort St. Frederick was the earliest and one of the most imposing fortifications to be raised on the French claims of Lake Champlain sometime after the first French presence in 1731.  Today only the foundations can be seen.

(right) Ruins of the British fort at Crown Point
Near the ruins of the earlier French Ft. St. Frederick, the British built a large and imposing fort to protect their newly won control of Lake Champlain.  Not long after it was built, the fort suffered a devastating fire.  Today only these ruins are a reminder of the bloody struggle between Europe's two greatest powers for this strategic water route to the heart of the British colonies.
           Crown Point State Park
 
 

The Fort at No. 4 in Charlestown, NH
In 1735 the Massachusetts Bay Colony granted township at No. 4.  By 1744 a palisaded village had been built to shelter settlers during King George's War.    The town was also involved in the later French and Indian War.
fortat4.com
 
 
 

Fort Necessity National Battlefield
In the wooded glen not many miles away and here on this "charming field for an encounter", Lt. Col. George Washington started it all.  Shown here is a reconstruction of the small fort where Washington offered his only surrender to a foreign power.  It was the beginning of the French and Indian War in North America.
           www.nps.gov/fone/home.htm
 

Old Fort Western, Augusta, Maine 
New England's oldest surviving fort was built in 1754 as a storehouse and garrison at the head of navigation on the Kennebec River.  During the Revolution, Benedict Arnold used it as the starting point for his unsuccessful attack on Quebec.  In later years it was used as a store and trade center for settlers flooding into northern New England.
www.oldfortwestern.org
 
 
 

  Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain
Guarding the strategic waterway from Canada to the heart of the American Colonies, Fort Ticonderoga (earlier the French Fort Carillon), is perhaps the earliest American historic preservation project and one of our most interesting French and Indian War sites.  Through its gates during the F&I War and the American Revolution passed some of our most revered and colorful personalities.
        www.fort-ticonderoga.org
 
 
 

Fort Edwards
    After Braddock's defeat the Virginia frontier was open to enemy attack. Many settlers fortified their homes and a few were chosen by Col. George Washington to be used as forts for his Virginia Regiment. The fort at Joseph Edwards's was one such place and is today the only explored and interpreted archaeological site in Col. Washington's chain of forts.
      www.FortEdwards.org
 
 
 
 
Fort Frederick, Maryland
Although its massive stone walls never saw an enemy attack during the French and Indian War, today this fort hosts some of the best reenactment events of the era.  Its location off I-70 in western Maryland makes it easily accessible as a day trip for visitors from Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD.
        www.dnr.state.md.us/.../fortfrederick.html

Fort Ligonier, on Forbes Road in Pennsylvania
Whereas the forts of the Virginia frontier were built by colonial soldiers or civilians, most of the major forts of Pennsylvania and New York were built by British engineers from plans still available in archives.  This fort was unsuccessfully attacked by a large French force as Gen. Forbes made his way to capture Ft. Duquesne.
         www.fortligonier.org

Olde Fort Niagara, New York
  Having been used by the military up to the 1960s, Old Fort Niagara has one of the longest and most important and interesting histories of war service.  From 1679 when the French first established a trading post (fort) here, until it fell to Britain in 1759, it served as an important post on the Great Lakes.  Today it has a very good interpretative program and several large reenactment gatherings.
Old Fort Niagara
 
 

Ft. Pitt (Ft. Duquesne)

Built on the location of Ft. Duquesne at the Forks of the Ohio, Ft. Pitt was the British fort guarding this strategic river location beginning in 1758 on through the Revolution.

www.fortpittmuseum.com

Col. Washington's Frontier Forts Association
An association of sites in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania working together to prepare for the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War.
www.frontierforts.org

     Some other sites that are of interest to French and Indian War enthusiasts include:

 
  Mount Vernon, Virginia
Although it did not look as palatial as this when he first inherited it, George Washington's Mount Vernon is one of America's most hallowed shrines.  The man remembered here is usually the General who won our Revolution or the President who formed our government, but we know he learned his lessons and became a leader in the French and Indian War.
Mount Vernon
 

 

See also:

             Fort Loudoun, Winchester, VA

          Braddock's Grave & Jumonville Glen

          Fortress of Louisbourg in Canada

          Virginia's Explore Park near Roanoke, VA

             Digital History Web Site

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