Friday, August 26, 2011

OHIO'S ONLY REVOLUTIONARY WAR FORT

Friday, August 26 – We're heading to Marsha's brother's house next week for some driveway camping.  We need to put down some boards under our stabilizing jacks so we don't crack his cement driveway.  We park along an edge that doesn't have very thick concrete.  We normally don't carry many planks, so we didn't have any place to store them.  Paul had read online about storing them under the propane tank.  So he purchased some closet wire shelving and installed them under the tank.

paul 

holder

There was already a ledge around the opening to set them on so all he had to do was cut them to fit and drill some holes to secure them in place.

holder-with-board 

He will add a couple bungee cords to secure the four 2x2 plywood boards for transportation.

NOW FOR OUR SIGHTSEEING ADVENTURE:

We have lived in Ohio all our life and never visited the historic Fort Laurens. This FIRST and ONLY fort of the Revolutionary War established within the limits of what is now Ohio. It was named in honor of Henry Laurens, President of the continental Congress.

1a-entrance-sign

Fort Laurens was constructed in 1778 as part of an attack against the Native Americans assisting the British stationed in Detroit. Troops lead by General McIntosh marched from Pittsburgh to present day Bolivar to wait for supplies.

1-sign

During much of its existence the fort was besieged by British soldiers and Native Americans who sided with the British, making gathering supplies difficult and unsafe. By March 1779, with their rations depleted, the troops were forced to eat anything they could find, including boiled ox hides and in some legends their own moccasins. This lack of supplies and attacks by Indians led to over 20 American deaths. In the summer of 1779, Daniel Broadhead was ordered by General Washington to evacuate the fort.

Outline of Fort.
2-outline-of-fort

In 1917, the Ohio Historical Society assumed control of the site and has kept the land open as a museum and a park. Today, only the outline of the fort remains next to a museum which tells the story of Fort Laurens.

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5-fort-outline

The museum features a video with the history of the Fort, weaponry, artifacts found on site during archeological digs and other items from the Colonial Era. While at the Fort, you can visit the Tomb of the Unknown Patriot of the American Revolution which contains the remains of an American soldier who gave his life at Fort Laurens.

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Twenty-one men died at Fort Laurens and were buried here.
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Fort Laurens is surrounded by a large park used for military encampments, events and picnics with two shelters that can be used by the public.

Visiting Fort Laurens is a great way to look into the past and get an idea of what it meant to be a soldier during the American Revolution.

We finally got an opportunity to get together with Paul's brother, Dave and wife, Linda. We had a great dinner with lots of catching up conversation. It was wonderful talking with them and hearing how our nieces and nephews are doing.

Dave, Linda, Marsha, Paul
Dave-and-Linda

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

10 comments:

  1. It's amazing how we never seemed to have time to visit the areas around where we lived when we lived in places. Yet, we could travel many miles to see those same sights once we moved away.

    We also added a rack underneath the propane tank.

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  2. Paul is about as handy as Doug. One day we will get together and compare amendments to our rigs. Good job Paul.

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  3. Nice tour of the fort, I had not heard of this one.

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  4. Thanks for the tour and pics of the fort it was interesting to read about.

    Nice job on the mod to your rig.

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  5. Great idea with the rack under the propane tank. I guess I have another project to add to the list...

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  6. I was surprised one time when my Dad and his wife came to visit us in Minneapolis and he wanted to take her to a shopping mall. It turns out Southdale mall was the first enclosed two-story mall. Who knew? Now, of course, the Mall of America is the big draw but Southdale is still there in case you want to see it.

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  7. Have never visited that fort location. Missed it some how and we were really into history when we lived in Ohio. That Paul sure is handy. Next time we get togather I'll have a few projects for him....lol

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  8. Our 'boys' can always find nooks and crannies for storage, can't they! Paul ended up fashioning a rack to carry our blue boy above our propane.

    Sure sorry to miss you...you'll be heading to Elkhart our first free day in Berlin. It'll just have to be something to look forward to in the future.

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  9. Your quite the handy man.Very interesting tour of the fort.

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  10. Nice new ride!
    Paul it is the wrong color, you going to paint it the same color as the new AC?
    GM is haveing trouble with their auto transmission, so the honda was the right choice. see the post on IRV2 about any one towing a Cruze. http://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/anyone-towing-a-cruze-four-down-100942.html

    Norm & Donna

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