Buffalo sits at the center of a rich cornucopia of places to see and things to do. There are a plethora of easy day trips from Natural Wonder, Niagara Falls, to mega city Toronto, to the amazing cultural treasure that is the Chautauqua Institution among countless others at the highest level. These 3 examples are all very well-known but there are other fantastic easy to get to destinations not so well-known that are within extraordinarily easy reach of Buffalo. One such lessor known treasure is at the finger tips of Buffalonians. That would be Fort Erie. No not the town but, the actual old stone fort. The one that played a major role in the War of 1812. The 200th anniversary of the War is being commemorated this year. Most of the War of 1812 was fought in Western New York and the Niagara Peninsula.
The siege and battle of Fort Erie was one of the largest and most important battles of the hostilities that were basically started as an attempt by the Americans to push the British off the continent once and for all. It ended in a draw setting up the 200 years of prosperity and peace we have enjoyed on our northern border with Canada.
The fort that stands today is mostly an exacting reconstruction of the original fort. Although it is a British fort you will note that today it flies the American flag. This is because it is set up to represent its most important point in its history, the point at which it was controlled by the Americans. This period included a big and important battle of the War. The big battle occurred when the British laid siege to try and reclaim the fort. They were ultimately unsuccessful but the Americans eventually destroyed and abandoned the fort after they needed more man power in another front in the war. The fort stood as a ruin until the great depression when the Canadian government rebuilt it as a historic monument as means to put people back to work. Recently the Canadians added a museum to the grounds along with additional exhibits including reconstructions of the siege battlements that the British used against the Americans. The Fort Erie Museum has docents in period dress who provide interpretations and historical narratives of what you are seeing. One very interesting demonstration shows the problems of loading and firing a musket (the high-tech war instrument of the time). Every August the museum stages a massive reenactment of the siege using over 1000 soldiers in period dress with replica working weapons.
The cannons of the Fort are still trained on the waters off Downtown Buffalo and the stone walls can be seen from the city’s waterfront but I bet few have taken advantage of this amazing historical treasure. As a kid growing up in Buffalo I never knew there was this incredibly historical old stone fort so close. My family never talked about it, my teachers never taught about it, nor did I ever visit it until I was an adult. The fort sits just a 1/2 mile or so south of the Peace Bridge. You could literally ride your bike from Buffalo to the Fort in 20 minutes. I highly recommend the trip.