Fort Stanwix NM Landscape: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Fort Stanwix National Monument

NPS Northeast Regional Office

Fort Stanwix National Monument (NM) is located in Rome, Oneida County, New York. Federally owned and managed by the National Park Service (NPS), the 16-acre park features a reconstructed Revolutionary War-era fort, with related outworks. The park’s purpose is to preserve the location, resources, and stories associated with the military, political, and cultural events that occurred at and around the site of Fort Stanwix and to provide opportunities for visitor understanding, appreciation, and stewardship. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the enabling legislation for the national monument into law in August 1935. Fort reconstruction began in the mid-1960s in tandem with an urban renewal program in downtown Rome to build two large city blocks anchored by a pedestrian mall. The NPS completed a master plan for Fort Stanwix in 1967. This plan recommended full reconstruction of the fort, the ruins of which lay beneath the City of Rome’s downtown. Subsequently, the city’s urban renewal program cleared approximately 70 structures and five streets. At the same time, a multi-year archeological investigation of the site of Fort Stanwix informed reconstruction of the fort that began in 1974. In 1976, the partially completed reconstructed fort opened to the public in time for the nation’s celebration of the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In 1977-1978, further reconstruction work was done. The reconstructed fort currently consists of an earth and timber-clad, reinforced concrete structure that surrounds three freestanding buildings and a small parade ground, along with frame casemates that are built into the four outer earthen walls. One remaining original feature, the remains of a brick hearth, is located within the reconstructed fort. Some original buildings and features of the fort remain unreconstructed, including two bombproofs, the Headquarters, Guard House, Ravelin, Bake House, the Necessary, and the Sallyport and its Redoubt. Outside of this structure, the fort is covered in turf, as is the surrounding property. The outer edges of the fort on the north, south, and west sides are composed of a berm followed by a ditch, a parapet, a low palisade fence, and a glacis. Beyond the glacis the landscape is maintained as lawn, except for a small meadow area. Deciduous trees line North James Street and a mixture of evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs stand north of the fort to screen the maintenance garage and other buildings north of the site. The Marinus Willett Collections Management and Education Center, built in 2005 at the southwest corner of the site, offers exhibit space and visitor services. Interpretive waysides are located along the asphalt and stone walkways that loop around the site and lead to the fort’s entrance. A reconstructed water feature, the Branch of Technohat Creek, runs to the east of the fort.

Fort Stanwix NM Landscape: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Fort Stanwix National Monument

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