Collections
Objects and records that carry the fort's story
From hardware turned up in the ground to the plans behind the reconstruction, the collection holds the physical evidence of the fort's life from 1808 through the War of 1812 and the work to rebuild it.
The collection grows out of more than a century of work to find, study, and rebuild the fort. In 1965, archaeological work exposed the central blockhouse and the officers' quarters foundations beneath a factory parking lot. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and a replica fort was built nearby in the mid-1980s. The objects and records below tie those chapters together.
We are cataloging and photographing items now so they can be searched and explored online. Until that work is done, this page describes what the collection covers rather than listing every piece.
What the collection covers
Holdings at a glance
Four broad areas make up the collection today. Each will be cataloged item by item as the searchable catalog comes together.
Excavated artifacts
Objects recovered from the original fort site, including the central blockhouse and the foundations of the officers' quarters exposed during the 1965 dig in a factory parking lot. Everyday items from a frontier garrison: hardware, ceramics, and military equipment.
Documents and records
Reproductions and references drawn from period military correspondence, maps, and accounts of the 1808 construction, the 1812 and 1813 sieges, and the garrison's escape and burning of the post in September 1813.
Reconstruction archive
Photographs, plans, and records from the mid-1980s reconstruction of the fort, much of it built by volunteers, including the people who shaped the living-history site that stands today.
Interpretive materials
Reproduction uniforms, tools, and trade goods used by reenactors and educators to show daily life inside a five-cornered frontier fort garrisoned by about sixty soldiers.
A searchable artifact catalog is coming
We are building an online catalog where you will be able to browse and search individual objects, with photographs and the story behind each one. Cataloging is underway. Check back as the collection comes online, or reach out if you would like to help bring it forward.
Help build the collection
Every object preserves a piece of the fort
Do you have an artifact, photograph, or document tied to the fort or its reconstruction? Your gift can support cataloging, conservation, and the new Welcome Center/Living History Center where this work will be shown.