Bob Emerson Talks 300 Years Of Old Fort Niagara - State of Greater Western New York

Ready to step back 300 years and experience one of America’s most strategically vital frontier posts? Click the image below to watch this week’s episode of The State of Greater Western New York Report and discover the complete story of Old Fort Niagara — from its 1726 founding through sieges, wars, five changes of ownership, and its evolution all the way into the Cold War missile era.

In the first half of the show, Bob Emerson, Executive Director of Old Fort Niagara, shares his personal journey from longtime reenactor to leading the site since 1997. He explains the fort’s fascinating early history, why the French chose its exact location at the mouth of the Niagara River, how it changed hands between three nations, its critical roles in the French & Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812, and why it’s still called “Old” Fort Niagara today.

In the second half, Bob details the exciting plans for the 300th Anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 6, along with this summer’s full lineup of living history events: the July 4th French & Indian War encampment, the Niagara County America 250 celebration on August 1–2 (featuring a Revolutionary War encampment and a spectacular drone light show), and the War of 1812 encampment over Labor Day weekend.

Our guest happily answered questions from the live audience. In fact, these are probably some of the same questions you had. Would you like to be a live audience member so you can ask our guests questions? Click here to join the growing number of members who share your feelings on StateOf.GreaterWesternNewYork.com because then we can automatically send you the link to watch our shows live.

Theme music by “mansardian” courtesy of FreeSound.org under Creative Commons License Attribution 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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