Historical Development of the Fort
Fort Niagara, 1910
- 30 Quarters (French Castle), 1726
- 31c Storehouse, 1762 altered c.1807-10 and repaired 1879
- 32 South Redoubt, 1770
- 33 North Redoubt, 1770-71
- 34b Quartermaster Storehouse, 1762
- 35 Powder Magazine, 1757
- 37 Shot Furnace, 1843
- 57d Command Post, c.1864
- 401j Sheds on "Castle", 1892
- 445f Castle Privies, 1855-60, enlarged 1893-1910
- 471b Guardhouse, 1869
- 472 Well, 1876
- 479 Unidentified structure
As "New" Fort Niagara grew, the "Old" Fort became increasingly demilitarized. A certain martial appearance was maintained by placing Civil War-period artillery on the parade ground and the walls, but these were used only for practice or as signal guns. Soldiers continued to walk their posts on the old ramparts, but in 1892 a new guardhouse was constructed in the "New" Fort and the 1869 guardhouse within the walls (471b) was converted to quarters. The decision to concentrate military activities outside the "Old" Fort was final. Sometime around 1903 the remaining antique artillery was removed. Fort Niagara had become a historical curiosity.
Despite these changes, the buildings were maintained, although for uses generally different from their original purpose. The historic old Castle (30) and the guardhouse of 1869 (471b) became quarters for married soldiers or civilian employees. The 1869 bakery (470) served as a carpenters' shop until it was removed about 1903. The obsolete shot furnace (37) had been bricked up since the Civil War. The 1762 storehouse (34b) regained its original function, but the massive redoubts (32 and 33) served as repositories for Quartermaster, Engineers, Ordnance, and Signal Corps supplies. Only the magazine (35) had an unbroken history of use. As late as 1929 it still sheltered ammunition for the post.
By the turn of the century, Old Fort Niagara had become far more significant for its historical value than for its utility to the United States Army. The six stone buildings had been considered important historic relics since the decade following the War of 1812. By 1872, post quartermaster and hospital reports regularly detailed the histories of those structures. This reputation even saved some from demolition. In 1879, for example, a board of officers convened to examine the condition of the 1762 bakehouse. Although it was in poor repair, the officers recommended that it be renovated for use as a storehouse. Their decision was heavily influenced by a desire to preserve a relic of colonial days.
This plan is based on the work of First Lieutenant Elvin Henry Wagner of the 29th Infantry who was then Post Quartermaster. Wagner drafted his comprehensive survey of "Fort Niagara New York" in February 1910. One of the details is a circular roadway touching both the Sally Port and the Postern Gate. Within a few years this would be thronged with the automobiles of Sunday visitors coming to explore the historic buildings.