Historical Development of the Fort
Fort Niagara, 1773
- 30 "The Large Stonehouse" (French Castle), 1726
- 31b Bakehouse, 1762
- 32 South Redoubt, 1770
- 33 North Redoubt, 1770-71
- 34b Provisions Storehouse, 1762
- 35 Powder Magazine, 1757
- 408b Officer's Quarters, pre-1755 or 1757-59
- 417b Barracks, 1755-56 or 1756-57
- 421c Privies, 1772-73
- 422 Ordnance Storehouse, 1757
- 427a Barracks, 1757
- 428a Barracks, 1757
- 429a Commandant's Quarters, 1757
- 430 Blacksmith Shop, 1757
- 431 Chapel, 1757
- 436 Soldiers' Guardhouse, 1768
- 437 Officers' Guardhouse, 1768
- 441a Commandant's Quarters, 1768
- 442a Officers' Quarters, 1768-71
- 443a Stable, 1768-71
- 445a Officers' Privy and Platform, 1772-73
Captain Sowers' improvements put a very different face on Fort Niagara. Any further attempt to maintain the land-side earthworks ceased with his alteration of the defenses. The interior stockade, supplemented by picketing along the lake, river and land perimeters, was adequate against Indian attack. Should the size of the garrison be drastically reduced, everything beyond the inner stockade could be abandoned and replaced by facilities in the "little fort".
These flimsy fortifications were soon improved. Plans had been made, as early as 1766, to strengthen the remnants of the land defenses. The intent was to place a small masonry blockhouse on the salient of each bastion from which the defenders' musket and canon fire could "plunge into the advanc'd ditches." Construction was delayed until 1770 when masons were hired in New York City and sent to Niagara to erect a stone "redoubt" in each of Fort Niagara's land-side bastions.
It took two seasons to complete the new structures (32 and 33), and the final products were substantially enlarged versions of the original design. The redoubts were intended to serve as gun platforms, guardhouses and advanced posts for the inner fort. General Thomas Gage confidently predicted that "no Body of Indians would ever venture between the fire of two Redoubts" to attack the inner stockade. Ironically, the redoubts were never utilized in the manner for which they were designed, but they would compliment the old earthworks should they be reonstructed. The South Redoubt was placed to reinforce the "Gate of the Five Nations", and, until the first decade of the nineteenth century, anyone entering Fort Niagara would pass through that massive building before reaching the parade ground.
With Fort Niagara secured against the possibility of attack from the outside, it was time to combat the never-ending "Decay of the Buildings." In May 1772 Lieutenant Francis Pfister was awarded a contract to repair the post buildings "in a durable and Solid manner." Work on the "Castle" included a two-story officers' privy, exterior stair and platform (445a) which would remain a part of the building until the middle of the nineteenth century. It was not until October 1773, however, tht Fort Niagara's commandant could certify that the contractor had fulfilled his agreement. A few weeks earlier, on September 28, Pfister completed the detailed "Plan of Niagara with an Explanation of its Present State" upon which this plan is based.