Situated with commanding view of the mouth of the Niagara River,
Fort Niagara has stood guard over the area for over three
hundred years. It remains some of the oldest buildings in the
upstate New York area. It has survived two wars, one siege, and
has changed hands five times over its service. Today the old
fort sits on state lands with sports fields and picnic areas
that once served as prison camps and training grounds. The
French established their first fort on the site in 1678, known
then as Fort Conti served as an armed trading post and terminus
of the Niagara Portage road. However a winter decimated the
fort’s population and was eventually abandoned. The French
returned and reestablished themselves in the area in 1687, and
by 1688 the fort became the centre of the fur trade for the
region. Extensive construction expanded the fort as tensions
between the French and British Empires threatened to spill into
North America. The Seven-Years war, or French-Indian war as it
was known as in North America came to