Site History

Fort Frederick was constructed by Maryland Governor Horatio Sharpe between 1756 and 1758 as an English stronghold during the French and Indian War. The fort has stone walls that stand about 18 feet high and it was designed in the style of the French military engineer Sebastien de Vauban. It did not actually see any battle during the French and Indian War, but it did serve as a staging area to support the English cause. Use of the fort ceased in 1758 after the English captured Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh and relieved pressure on the Maryland frontier. It was briefly pressed into service again during the 1763 Pontiac Rebellion, but again the main battles took place in Pennsylvania and the fort was soon abandoned.

During the American Revolution, Fort Frederick was used as a prisoner of war camp for English and Hessian soldiers. It also saw some action during the U.S. Civil War when two Union companies were stationed there. In between these military conflicts, the land surrounding the fort was farmed.

In 1922, Fort Frederick was purchased by the State of Maryland to become a state park. Since then the walls and some stone foundations have been reconstructed. Part of the Fort has been restored to its 1758 appearance and other parts have been converted into interpretive spaces for visitors.

Archaeology

Several archaeological projects have taken place at Fort Frederick since the State purchased it in 1922. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) excavated numerous trenches at the site in the 1930s in order to help with reconstruction efforts. Additional trench testing took place in 1973 under the supervision of William Liesenbien who was looking for the powder magazine. In 1975, Stephen Israel did additional testing prior to more reconstruction and utility placement.

Two years later, John Milner & Associates excavated 18 test units in the southwest bastion and north and west of the fort walls. These excavations found a great deal of disturbance from earlier excavations and did not identify specific activity areas, but they did determine the presence of undisturbed deposits dating to the initial 1756-1758 occupation of the fort.

Greenhorne & O’Mara, Inc. performed additional excavations in 1999 and 2000 that tested areas throughout the fort. Again, they found a great deal of disturbance from previous excavations and reconstruction efforts, but they also identified some intact 18th-century deposits. Numerous 18th-century artifacts were recovered from both disturbed and undisturbed contexts.

References

The Fort Frederick archaeological collections are owned by the Maryland Historical Trust and curated at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory.