Historical Development of the Fort
Fort Niagara, 1726
- 30 Machicolated House (French Castle), 1726
Construction of the "machicolated house" (the "Castle") in 1726 finally gave the French a firm military foothold on the Niagara River. Although the Iroquois had given permission to erect a stone trading house, the new building was, in fact, a substantial citadel for its military garrison. It was designed by Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Lery to have the appearance of a house, but it incorporated many defensive features as well, notably overhanging or "machicolated" dormers which provided positions from which defensive fire could sweep the ground around it. The stone walls were impervious to musketry, and the "house" contained all the facilities needed by a garrison of about sixty officers and men - storerooms, quarters, a bakery, a chapel, a magazine, and a well.
Construction of the "machicolated house" was begun in June 1726 and completed during 1727. This structure would be the sole building of Fort Niagara for almost twenty years. A wooden stockade with four bastions was erected around it during the summer of 1727 to provide an outer line of defense. Fort Niagara remained essentially in this configuration until sometime after 1740.
This sketch is based on Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Lery's own plan entitled "Entree de La Riviere de Niagara. dans le fond du Lac Ontario au est marque la maison a machicoulis et Le fort propose" dated June 21, 1726. The "machicolated house" was placed on the location of the two earlier forts, de Lery noting that he had selected the "same spot" occupied by Denonville's post. It is even possible, although as yet unsupported by any evidence, that the Fort Denonville well was reopened to serve the new stone house. The main gate of the stockade was placed on the river side to provide easy access to the landing place. The high, terraced lake bank and the natural gully east of the walls again served to strengthen the position. A cemetery was located outside the walls, perhaps on the east bank of the gully near the modern site of Old Fort Niagara's three flagpoles which was the site of a number of early burials uncovered in 1929.
Fort Niagara bore a striking resemblance to de Lery's later Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point, New York, constructed a decade later. Both incorporated a substantial roofed citadel within a small fort. Fort St. Frederic's proximity to British territory dictated outer defenses of stone and earth rather than a stockade, but in most other respects the two posts were quite similar.