Fort Ontario BY DEBORAH JEANNE SERGEANT
Show by Symphoria last summer attracted a big crowd. HISTORY CAN BE FUN, AND PEOPLE only need to travel as far as the Fort Ontario State Historic Site, on the east side of Oswego, to enjoy that fun — whether it’s taking a tour, enjoying a concert or going on a ghost hunt. The current fort is built on the ruins of three earlier forts, the first one having been constructed in 1755. Throughout the centuries, its various incarnations and surrounding grounds have been the site of battles during the French and Indian Wars and the War of 1812 and as a Union recruitment center during the Civil War. It was occupied by the U.S. Army through World War II; served as a refugee camp for mostly Jewish victims of the Holocaust from 1944 to 1946; and was home to World War II vets and their families from 1946 to 1953. Tucked into a corner of the site is a cemetery where 77 officers, soldiers, women and children who served at the fort over the years have been laid to rest. “We have such a wide range of history, it gives people an opportunity to not just experience our history, but also to do that in an outside-inside environment,” according to Danielle 28
The Best of Upstate New York | 2023
Funiciello, historic site assistant at the Fort. The history becomes much more relatable, she said, with visitors having the chance to take self-guided tours where they can explore the interiors of the various buildings comprising the Fort; climb up on the ramparts to see the cannons and cannonballs and some commanding views of Lake Ontario; and get a sense of how people lived in the past. Staff and volunteers, often dressed in clothing from 1868-69 when a post-Civil War Veteran’s Reserve Corps was stationed at the fort, re-enact chores and occupations from that era. There are several special events planned for the summer that will appeal to history, fashion and music buffs. • Women’s Weekend at Fort Ontario: A Symposium on Gender, Fashion, and Labor since 1755. The event will run June 24-25, with speakers and historical interpreters giving demonstrations of historical skills or discussing certain topics from women’s history. This will also include a “Fashion Timeline” fashion show, demonstrating clothing over the time that the fort has been in operation. On
Doing laundry.