Historic Fort Steuben

March 3, 2009 at 1:39 am | Posted in History in the Ville, Places in the Ville | 2 Comments
Tags: historic fort steuben, jefferson county, northwest territory, ohio, ohio river, ohio valley frontier days, old fort steuben, steubenville

Last week I wrote about the Underground Railroad exhibit at Historic Fort Steuben.  This week I thought I would give more information about the actual fort.
In 1748, The King of England granted The Ohio Company 200,000 acres of land, and the exploration and survey of what is now Jefferson County began.
Surveyors were sent by the Continental Congress to map the Northwest Territory. The first state to be formed from the Northwest Territory was Ohio, the seventeenth state of the United States of America.

Ohio Historical Marker Photo by J L Marini

In 1786 the First American Regiment built Fort Steuben along the Ohio River to protect the surveyors from Native Americans.
Two hundred years later in 1986, the non-profit Old Fort Steuben Project, Inc. was formed to reconstruct the fort on its original site.
The daily life of the men are depicted in the blockhouses and include officer quarters, enlisted men quarters, quartermaster, artificers shops, the hospital and the commissary.

Fort Steuben Photo by J L Marini

Captain John Francis Hamtramck named Fort Steuben after Prussian Drillmaster Baron von Steuben and Steubenville, Ohio derives its names from the fort.
Fort Steuben offers historical and educational programs. It has a Museum Shop and an Herb Garden, planted and maintained by the Victorian Garden Club of Steubenville and Wintersville.
An outdoor concert series is held each summer at The Louis Berkman Amphitheater and is a great place to spend summer evenings listening to a variety of music.
Each June thousands of visitors from all over the U S attend the annual “Ohio Valley Frontier Days,” with reenactors, crafts, food, and music. For more information and a schedule of events contact Historic Fort Steuben, 120 S. Third Street, Steubenville, OH 43952, (740) 283-1787. Or visit their website at www.oldfortsteuben.com

Historic Fort Steuben Museum Shop and Exhibits Photo by J L Marini