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PHOTO: Fort Western has stood on the banks of the Kennebec River in Augusta since 1754, and has been a museum since 1922. (Maureen Milliken photo)
AUGUSTA – The year 2022 has been proclaimed “The Year of the Fort,’ in celebration of Fort Western’s nearly 400 years on the banks of the Kennebec River and 100 years as a museum.
Then-Mayor Dave Rollins made the proclamation celebrating the historic landmark in December.
The first building on the site on the banks of the river, across from what is now downtown, was built in 1628, a trading post called Cushnoc. In 1754, during the French and Indian War, the current fort building opened as a supply garrison for Fort Halifax farther up the river in Winslow.
From 1767 to 1807, the first store in Augusta, S & W Howard Store, was on the site. It became the home of the Howards, the first prominent family in the city, and their descendants, from 1767 to 1852.
Fort Western then became tenement housing, mostly for mill workers, until 1920, when the Gannett family, descendants of the Howards, renovated the garrison, built reproduction blockhouses and watch boxes, and gave the fort back to the city to be used as a museum. Fort Western formally opened its doors as a museum on July 4, 1922.
Fort Western was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
“We all owe a substantial amount of recognition and gratitude to the people who have upheld and prospered at this site for the last 400 years, as history was being made and then remembered,” Rollins said in his proclamation.
Fort Western will reopen for tours on Saturday, May 28. A series of special events is also planned this year, including:
May 15 – Martha Ballard’s World – Wife, Mother, Healer, Botanist
May 28 -The Pilgrims at Cushnoc Trading Post Reconstruction Fundraiser
June 11 -Four Forts, One Story Archaeological Tour
July 4 – The Forth at the Fort Declaration of Independence and Cannonade
Aug. 20 – The S & W Howard Store & Tavern, 18th Century Artisan Demonstrations
and Tavern Night Fundraiser.
Fall events will be announced once details are finalized.
For more information on events, the fort and volunteering, call 207-626-2385, email oldfort@oldfortwestern.org, visit www.oldfortwestern.org or Facebook at Old Fort Western – Augusta, Maine. Fort Western is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve, protect and interpret the National Historic Landmark, fort, store and house.
