Join authors George and Carol Reed as they recount the history of Fort
Ontario through vintage images in this pictorial history.
In the earliest days when lakes, streams, and rivers served as highways
through the wilderness, the nation that ruled the mouth of the Oswego
River dominated North America. The convergence of the Oswego and Lake
Ontario was a key point on the most navigable water route from the east
into the interior of the continent. It was there that Fort Ontario was
built. Just as quickly, however, the fort was destroyed, as competing
armies seized control of this valuable point. Time after time the fort
was rebuilt, and over the years it acquired a history as unique as its
location. Fort Ontario: Guardian of the North is the first history of
this remarkable and resilient fort, credited with being the oldest
continuously garrisoned post in the United States. The book chronicles
the many transformations of Fort Ontario from the time it was built in
1755 up to its present-day status as a New York State Historic Site.
With paintings, maps, photographs, and informative text, the book brings
back the fort's years as a company post, its World War I role as a major
army hospital, and its World War II years as a shelter for Jews fleeing
the Holocaust--the only wartime refugee shelter in the history of the
United States.