Historic Fort Ontario

Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter 75th Anniversary Open House Event
2019-09-03 17:00 - 21:00 UTC
Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter 75th Anniversary Event Commemorating the 3 September 1944 Open House, marking the end of the 30-day Quarantine. No charge.
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Civil War Lecture - "William Henry Seward: New York Leader, American Patriot"
2019-08-14 19:00 - 20:30
“William Henry Seward: New York Leader, American Patriot.”
By Historian Tom Ebert Enlisted Men’s Barracks-No charge
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75th Anniversary Refugee Reunion & Commemorative Event
2019-08-05
On Monday, August 5th, we will be celebrating the arrival of the 982 Holocaust Refugees at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter on August 5th, 1944 starting at 7:30 am.

New York State Parks, Friends of Fort Ontario, and the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum will be hosting a program of events to commemorate the August 5, 1944 arrival of the nearly 1,000 European refugees of the Holocaust at Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY. The Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter was the only shelter for victims of the Holocaust located in the United States during World War II. Fort Ontario was where the Holocaust came to America, and where the American public and press first encountered victims of Nazi persecution and their personal stories of survival, resulting in stories of the Holocaust moving from the back to the front pages of newspapers across the country.

Reservations required by 1 July 2019. Contact Judy Rapaport 315-591-1050 or email jcrap53@gmail.com. Fillable PDF Registration Form

Schedule of Events
7:30 a.m. – Bells will ring throughout the City of Oswego signifying a welcome to the refugees.

8:15 a.m. – Bus departs for private commemoration ceremonies at cemeteries where refugees who died at the shelter are buried: Ahavath Achim Cemetery in Jamesville, Riverside Cemetery and St. Paul’s Cemetery in Oswego. Open only to officials, former refugees and their families, and invited press/guests. Reservation are Required.
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Free admission to the Safe Haven Museum and Fort Ontario, including self-guide tours of refugee sites. Open to the public.
1:00 p.m. – Boxed lunch at the overlook near the Na’Amat Refugee Memorial Monument at Fort Ontario. Open only to officials, former refugees and their families, members of Safe Haven and Friends of Fort Ontario. Reservations are required.
2:00 p.m. – Main Commemoration Program at Refugee Memorial Monument at Fort Ontario. Open to the public.
6:00 p.m. – Refugee Reunion Dinner with guest speakers at the Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center in Oswego, NY. Open to the public. Reservations are required.

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Civil War Union Army Garrison Weekend
2019-08-03 - 2019-08-04
Regular Admission: $4.00 Adults, $3.00 Seniors & Students, 12 & under Free! Living History, Ceremonies, Drills, Sutlers, Guard Detail, Skirmish Drill, Manual of Arms, Bayonet Drill, Fatigue, School of the Soldier, Games, Dress Parade, Retreat, Casemate Firing.

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75th Anniversary Refugee Reunion & Commemorative Event
2019-06-01 10:00 - 15:00 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
On Monday, August 5th, we will be celebrating the arrival of the 982 Holocaust Refugees at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter on August 5th, 1944 starting at 7:30 am.

Reservations required by 1 July 2019. Contact Judy Rapaport 315-591-1050 or email jcrap53@gmail.com.

Schedule of Events

7:30 AM

Church Bells Ring!

8:15 AM

Bus Tour to Refugee Gravesites. Limited to Refugees, their Families, Officials & Press. Reservations Required.

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Free Admission to the Safe Haven Museum. Self-guided 1944 Photo Tour of the Shelter Grounds.

1:00 PM

Kosher Box Lunch- Limited to Refugees, their Families, Officials & Press. Reservations Required.

2:00 PM

Commemorative Program at the NA’AMAT Refugee Monument at Fort Ontario. Speakers & Memorial Service. Open to the Public.

6:00 PM

Refugee Reunion Dinner. Refugees & guest speakers at the Lake Ontario Event & Conference Center. Reservations Required.

6:00 PM

Dinner Info: $50.00 Buffet or $40.00 Plated Kosher Dinner.Open to the public. Reservations Required.

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Fort Ontario Conference on History & Archaeology
2019-03-30 - 2019-03-31 | Lake Ontario Event & Conference Center, Best Western Hotel, 26 East 1st Street, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Saturday, March 30: 8:00am – Registration
8:30am – 5:00pm – Lectures – Lunch included
Sunday, March 31: 8:30am – Bus Tour of Historic Sites – Lunch included
Go to our registration page to see pricing options and to register for the event.
Saturday Speakers
Corey S. King
History of the Fort Ontario Post Cemetery
Arthur L. Simmons III
Fortifying the Oneida Carrying Place (1755-1759)
Dr. Richard Barbuto
December 1813: the Burning of the Niagara Frontier
L. Paul Beers
Fort Pork Barrel, the Battle of Cranberry Creek, 1813
Dr. Richard Weyhing
The Marquis de Montcalm and the “Honors of War” in Europe and North America
Dr. Adrian Mandzy
Bullets and Battlefield Debris: What Battlefield Archaeology has taught us about the Battle of Blue Licks (1782) and the Battle of the Crater (1864)
Sunday Bus Tour
Forts form Oswego to Rome
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Holiday Model Train Display at Fort Ontario
2018-12-08 11:00 - 2018-12-30 16:00 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
The Oswego Valley Railroad Association and State Historic Site Fort Ontario will be hosting a Holiday Model Train Display in memory of the late Wally Workmaster who displayed his trains in the 70s at the fort. This is a great opportunity to what the Oswego Valley RR Association has to offer.
The Fort Museum Shop will be open for your Holiday gift shopping!
FREE ADMISSION
Sat Dec 8 – 11am to 4pm
Sun Dec 9 – 11am to 4pm
Sat Dec 15 – 11am to 4pm
Sun Dec 16 – 11am to 4pm
Sat Dec 22 – 11am to 4pm
Sun Dec 23 – 11am to 4pm
Then four days in the week after Christmas!
Thurs Dec 27 – 11am to 4pm
Fri Dec 28 – 11am to 4 pm
Sat Dec 29 – 11am to 4pm
Sun Dec 30 – 11am to 4pm
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Ghost Reveal and Hunt
2018-10-13 18:00 - 22:00 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Ghost Reveal and Hunt
Pre-sale Only! One night only! Tours start every half hour from 6 pm to 10 pm.
$20 tickets are on sale now.
Not handicapped friendly because of ramps and stairs. For ages 8 and up, only.
Call 315-343-4711 to buy tickets.
Wear sturdy, comfortable shoes, as there are stone steps and grassy slopes. Dress for the weather (plus a layer for the wind at Fort Ontario!) Bring a flashlight.
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Revolutionary War Reenactment
2018-08-24 - 2018-08-26
Revolutionary War Reenactment Troops from around the country assemble at Fort Ontario for a weekend of living history.
18th century games, musketry, cooking, colonial crafts, antique muskets and artillery, camp life and demonstrations.
Plus scheduled battles!
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Lecture: "The History of Fort Fremont; an Endicott Period Coast Defense
2018-08-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Free Lecture by Ted Panyatoff
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"Last Post" Lantern Tour
2018-07-04 21:00 - 22:30 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
The ‘Last Post’ Lantern Tours feature descriptions about the history, myths, and legends of who, how, why, and where hundreds of officers, soldiers, civilians, and Native American died at Fort Ontario since 1755.
Tickets are $15 and must be purchased in advance by calling 315-343-4711 or visiting the museum shop during public hours. Proceeds support programming sponsored by the not-for-profit group, Friends of Fort Ontario, Inc
Participants, age 8 and up, are advised to wear appropriate footwear and clothing for slopes, stairs, and brisk lakeside breezes.
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Opening Day
2018-05-16 10:00 - 16:30 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Fort opens for the summer
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I Love My Park Day
2018-05-05 08:30
I Love My Park Day, the 6th annual Parks and Trails New York event to improve the state parks and prepare them for summer is scheduled for Saturday, May 5, 2018.
Show your support for your Park and Historic Site! Volunteers help ready Fort Ontario for the season by doing general cleaning, sweeping and dusting buildings, painting, raking, planting and landscaping.
Coffee and breakfast items, pizza lunch and a tee-shirt are provided.
Any area businesses who would like to donate tools, supplies or something for a door prize should contact Park Manager Tim Gray at 315-343-4711.

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Fort Ontario Conference on History and Archeology
2018-04-21 08:00 - 2018-04-22 17:00 | Lake Ontario Event & Conference Center, Best Western Hotel, 26 East 1st Street, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
“Reflections on the Great War, 1914-1918” is this year’s theme for the Fort Ontario Conference on History and Archeology. Most of the presentations will center on World War I, but there is a variety of topics.
Saturday Speakers

Paul Lear – Fort Ontario in the War of 1917
George A. Bray III – Bradstreet’s 1758 Raid on Fort Frontenac
Rene Chartrand – Canadian Army Uniforms and Equipment 1914-1918
Timothy J. Abel, PhD – Lake Ontario’s Forgotten War of 1812 Naval Shipyard
Brian Leigh Dunnigan – Historic Links in the Waterways of the Early Great Lakes
Dianne Graves – John McCrae, The Armistice and the Remembrance Poppy
Donald E. Graves – The Daily Life of the Canadian Soldier on the Western Front, 1915-1918, and Those Who Waited at Home for Him

Sunday’s Bus Tour will take guests to sites of the War of 1812: Oswego, Great Sandy and the Great Cable Carry route.
Pre-registration and payment required

Saturday 4/21 registration, including lunch and breaks – $35
Sunday 4/22 Bus tour including lunch – $35
Both Days – $60

To register, call the fort at 315-343-4711.
Or Register Online here
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Fort Ontario History and Archaeology Conference
2018-04-21 - 2018-04-22 | Lake Ontario Event & Conference Center, Best Western Hotel, 26 East 1st Street, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Fort Ontario will once again host renown international historians at the Fort Ontario History and Archaeology Conference to be held at the Great Lakes Event and Conference Center in Oswego April 21-22. Sunday’s event is a bus tour of the War of 1812 battle sites along Lake Ontario.
Look here for more information as the speaker list is confirmed and arrangements are finalized.
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Lecture on Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Center
2018-01-27 14:00 - 15:30 | Quality Inn & Suites Riverside, 70 E. First St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Paul Lear, Site Supervisor of Fort Ontario Historic Site, will give a talk on the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in WWII on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. It will be held at the Quality Inn & Suites Riverside, 70 E. First St.
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First Day Hike
2018-01-01 10:00 - 12:00 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Friends of Fort Ontario will host a First Day Hike around the Fort Ontario National Register District on Monday, Jan. 1, beginning at 10 a.m. The event is part of a nationwide initiative to encourage all to begin the New Year by rejuvenating and connecting with the outdoors. Cory King, AmeriCorps staffer, will lead the 1-mile family and dog-friendly hike which will proceed at a moderate pace. The free public hike will begin inside the old stone fortification.
The Winter Walk Through History event is part of New York State Park’s statewide First Day Hikes Program and is being conducted in cooperation with Oswego County AmeriCorps and Friends of Fort Ontario.
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Fort Ontario Post Cemetery Wreaths
2017-12-16 10:00 - 14:30 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Create and lay wreaths at the Post Cemetery to honor the soldiers, women and children interred there. Show that they are not forgotten this holiday season!.
Dec 16, 2017
Assemble in the Enlisted Men’s Barracks at 10:00 am to make wreaths.
Laying of the wreaths at the Post cemetery will be at 2:00 pm.
This event is created and coordinated by Corey King, Americorps staff.
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Ghost Reveal & Hunt
2017-10-13 - 2017-10-14 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
$15.00 Pre-sale only!
7:00pm – 10:00pm
Call to book your Tour Time Slot.
Tickets go on sale 8/1/2017
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Brown Bag Lunch Lecture at Penfield Library
2017-10-11 12:40 - 13:40
Dr. Richard Weyhing of the SUNY Oswego History Department and Board of Friends of Fort Ontario, and Fort Superintendent Paul Lear will be guest speakers at the Brown Bag Lunch at Penfield Library on Wednesday at 12:40 PM. Rich and Paul will be discussing the cultural and economic importance of the fort to the community, and the diverse roles SUNY Oswego students, faculty, and administration play in supporting programming, exhibits, patron services, research, special events, and more while enriching visitor and student experiences at one of our nation’s most historically significant sites.
This is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Brown Bag Discussion Series
Smart Neighbors Project: Connecting Students to the Economic Needs of the Local Community
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Closed for the Winter
2017-10-10 08:00 - 17:00
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Tickets go on sale for Ghost Reveal & Hunt
2017-08-01
Tickets go on sale 8/1/2018 for:
October 13 Ghost Reveal & Hunt (Saturday only this year)
$20.00 Pre-sale only!
Call 315-343-4711 to book your Tour Time Slot.
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Harborfest: Old Fort is Open!
2017-07-28 - 2017-07-30 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Fireworks at dark Saturday!
Regular admission on Friday & Sunday. Saturday Parking fee is $6.00.
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World Refugee Day
2017-06-20 19:00 - 21:00 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Outdoor Interpretive Panel Dedication & Walking Tour of
the 1944-1946 Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter
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French & Indian War
2017-06-17 - 2017-06-18 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
French & Indian War: 18th Century Living History Event
Battles are Saturday & Sunday, times TBA.
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Memorial Day
2017-05-29 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States

All Day Events
2017-05-20 01:00 - 18:00
10 AM to 3 PM – Kite Fest – Kite flying on the lake bluff at one of the best, windiest and least obstructed sites in the area.
10 AM to 4 PM Oswego Civic Center Arts Association open for showing of the exhibit “Madeline in Oswego”
10 AM to 4 PM Kite building and painting workshop at the Oswego Civic Center Arts Association, tied into the Madeline story of Pepito in “Madeline and The Bad Hat”
10 AM to 12 PM, and 2 to 4 PM – Madeline Books Storytelling by Rachel Ruller
11 AM to 3 PM Food Trucks will line the Service Drive to the Fort selling refreshments and lunch to the public.
12 noon Children’s parade organized and sponsored by the Children’s Museum of Oswego. The public is invited to dress as characters from Madeline books and to march in a parade around the fort grounds starting at the Fort Pool area. Free admission to the Fort all day.
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM The Children’s Museum of Oswego‘s free Ice Cream party on the fort parade ground for parade participants, families, and the festival attendees.
WWI Period Children’s Games outside the Oswego Civic Arts Center by Shari Crawford, early American activities specialist and teacher.
Photo Opportunities with cutouts of Ludwig Bemelmans in his uniform, Miss Clavel, Madeline and Pepito will be outside the fort grounds.
Self guided tours of Bemelmans WWI sites will be offered with a pamphlet guide and map of the fort grounds and signage at each of the points.
4 PM to 6 PM Bemelmans Barbecue Fundraiser at the YMCA Youth Center at the Butch Ponzi Building. Drive-through for takeout or eat-in chicken or pulled pork barbecue dinner at the former Army post gymnasium. Presale tickets of $10 will be sold by at Fort Ontario, Bosco’s, Man in the Moon Candies and other places to be announced.
5:00 PM to 6:00 PM Sounds of Brass Concert of WWI era music inside the Fort.
8 PM Players Theatre Performance of “My War with the United States”

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Presentation With Photos Of The Fort In WWI
2017-05-18 19:00 - 22:00 | Oswego Civic Center
Oswego Civic Arts Center, Oswego Players Frances Marion Brown Theater – Paul Lear will give a presentation with photos of the Fort in WWI.
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Walking Tour Of Sites Associated With WWI
2017-05-17 19:00 - 22:00 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Fort Grounds – Paul Lear, Historic Site Manager at Fort Ontario will conduct a walking tour of sites associated with WWI and the Bemelmans stories.
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Open for the Season!
2017-05-17 | Fort Ontario, 1 East Fourth St, Oswego, NY, 13126, United States
Spring Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 10:00am -4:30pm
Closed Mondays & Tuesdays
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