Fort Massac State Park

About Fort Massac State Park

Experience the scenic splendor of southern Illinois at Fort Massac State Park on the southern tip of Illinois overlooking the mighty Ohio River. This majestic place has been preserved and maintained since 1908, when it became Illinois. Today it reminds of bygone days, the perfect place to relax in a soothing natural environment and explore life with those who lived when the country was younger than you when they lived.

Among the historic fortifications in the area is Fort Massac, a replica of an American fort built in 1802. This historic site is the site of the replica American Fort of 1804 and replicas of American Forts of 1801, 1803 and 1805, as well as replicas of American Forks of America, replica U.S. Army barracks and replica United States Army Corps of Engineers barracks located on site.

The site also has an archaeological outline of a French fort dating from 1757, and there is also a replica of the French fort from 1758 and replica US Army Corps of Engineers barracks.

Fort Massac State Park is a self-contained family resort in the heart of New York's Hudson Valley.

Experience history, let the past come alive and experience it yourself and experience history.

The rich history of this place begins long before recorded history, when Native Americans undoubtedly took advantage of its strategic location overlooking the Ohio River. Europeans used this in the early 19th century, when primitive fortresses were erected to defend themselves against enemy attacks and natives.

When France and Britain fought in the Franco-Indian Wars in 1757 for final control of Central America, they rebuilt Fort De L. in 1759-60, renamed Massiac in honor of the then French colonial minister, but came under attack when it was unsuccessfully attacked by a group of Cherokees. At the end of the Franco Indian War (1763), groups of chickpeas abandoned and burned the fort, and only charred ruins were found when the US Army and the United States Army Corps of Engineers arrived to take possession of it.

The British named Fort Massiac in honour of the French colonial minister of Central America, Jean-Baptiste Massac, in the 18th century.

In 1778, during the Revolutionary War, Colonel George Rogers Clark led an attack on Fort Massiac, a US Army base in New York State. This oversight made the fortress vulnerable to attacks by the French and American Revolutionary Armies and the British Army.

President George Washington ordered the reconstruction of the fortress in 1794 and protected it for the next 20 years. In the summer of 1805, General James Wilkinson, who had allegedly drawn up plans to conquer Mexico and the American Southwest, met at Fort Massac. The Long Knives regiment entered Illinois via Massacs Creek, conquered the entire Illinois Territory, and captured Kaskaskia, 100 miles north, without firing a shot. Edward Everett Hale later used it as an operational base for his US Army campaign in the southwest.

Fort Massac State Park, one of the largest state parks in the United States, is home to more than 1,000 acres of state parkland and a number of historic buildings.

After being destroyed by the New Madrid earthquake in 1811-12, it was rebuilt to play a minor role in the 1812 war. In 1814 the fortress was abandoned and dismantled by the inhabitants into the forest, but in 1839 the town of Metropolis was clad about a mile west of it.

In 1903, the state purchased 24 hectares of land through the Daughters of the American Revolution and officially consecrated it as Illinois on November 5, 1908. In 1939 - 42 archaeological and historical excavations were carried out here, which were tried again in 1966, 1970 and 2002. The last time US troops were stationed there, in 1861-62, it served as a training camp during the Civil War.

After the measles epidemic of 1861-62 died down, the fortress was briefly reused as a camp in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but abandoned in 1864.

In the early 1970s, a replica of the castle was reconstructed at its original location. American fort since 1794, the replica is based on Fort Massac State Park in the state of New York, New Jersey, United States of America.

The original site where the fortress was built shows the archaeological outline of a French fortress from 1757. American Fort in 1802, the reconstruction was abandoned until it was rebuilt in the early 1970s at its original location. The historic site is open to the public seven days a week and is classified into a number of small groups by age, gender, race, religion, ethnicity and other factors such as age and gender identity.

Fort Massac is the perfect place to bring a picnic lunch, and four covered picnic shelters are available. Tables, barbecues and drinking water are distributed on the premises and there are three playgrounds for children. Some are reserved for first-time catering, others for second and third-party catering, and so on.

The park has a 1.5 km loop through a grassy forest that starts and ends at the fortress, and the trail is also designated as a forest watch and tree identification trail. A brochure is available at the visitor center and on the tree marking trail, but a must if you are guiding hikers along the scenic Ohio River.

In October, the unique Fort Massac Camp takes place for two days, and in October, the park hosts a unique summer campsite with a variety of activities.

Several times a year, the park organizes a lively history weekend, where visitors can experience the past for themselves. In August, Fort Massac hosts a vintage car fair known nationally as Superman Days, which has attracted more than 80,000 people for several years in a row. Exit 37 of Interstate 24, which will take you to Metropolis and then to the parking lot of the New York State Museum.