We spent the day in Rome, as weather reports called for rain and high winds. One of the benefits of not working, is we don’t have to go if the weather is marginal!
We donned our foul weather gear and went for a walkabout. The town has seen better days, with industry on the wane. There was an interesting general store with wooden floor selling deli and food items and a small bakery, along with a small mall.
What really impressed us about this town is the restoration of the historic Fort Stanwix, a Revolutionary-era wooden fort, which takes up a full city block right in town.
This aerial layout shows the interesting shape of the battlements, which are surrounded by a dry “moat” and a pointy stockade fence.
If the enemy made it over the fence, they would be sitting ducks in the ditch.
General Stanwix built the fort (in 54 days!) in 1758 to protect the important portage between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek. Under siege by the British in August 1777, the commander was able to hold out against a force three times as large as his, due to the design of the fort. During this siege, and for the first time ever, the Six Nations of area Native American peoples were split in their allegiances. Some tribes joined the British, and other tribes joined the Revolutionary forces, essentially pitting brother against brother. The three-week siege, during which the defending force almost ran out of food, ended when reinforcements arrived and the British withdrew to Canada.
The interior of the fort has many low-ceiling log barracks which housed personnel, an infirmary, a suttlery (civilian-run trading post), and powder magazine.
The fort has an adjacent interactive museum, with excellent video reenactments featuring professional actors in period costumes on “location”. We were glad we stumbled on this gem during our bad weather “lay-day”. For more information on the fort, go to www.nps.gov/fost.
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