Fort Dummer was a British fort built in 1724 during Dummer's War by the colonial militia of the Province of Massachusetts Bay under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight in what is now the Town of Brattleboro in southeastern Vermont. The fort was the first permanent European settlement in Vermont. It consisted of a 180-square foot (17 m²) wooden stockade near 42°49′51″N 72°33′01″W / 42.8309°N 72.5504°W / 42.8309; -72.5504Coordinates: 42°49′51″N 72°33′01″W / 42.8309°N 72.5504°W / 42.8309; -72.5504, with 12 guns manned by 55 men (43 English soldiers and 12 Mohawks). Near the former site of the fort is a granite monument one mile (2 km) south of the Brattleboro railway station.
The fort was named after Lieutenant Governor William Dummer, who was acting governor of Massachusetts at the time of the fort's construction.
On October 11, 1724, seventy Abenakis attacked Fort Dummer and killed 3 or 4 soldiers.
Fort Dummer State Park is part of the Vermont State Park system. It comprises 218 acres (878,000 m²) of forest just outside of Brattleboro. The park overlooks the former site of Fort Dummer which was flooded when the Vernon Dam was built on the Connecticut River in 1908. The granite monument that commemorates the fort is not within the borders of the park. The monument itself was moved in 1908 to prevent it from being lost after the dam was completed. The original site of the fort can be seen from the northernmost scenic vista on the Sunrise Trail within the park. It is now underwater near the lumber company located on the western bank of the river.
Famous quotes containing the word fort:
“The newspapers are the ruling power. Any other government is reduced to a few marines at Fort Independence. If a man neglects to read the Daily Times, government will go down on its knees to him, for this is the only treason these days.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)