Old Fort Western

There's always something new to learn at Old Fort Western!

Protecting, preserving and interpreting the 1754 National Historic Landmark fort, store and house on the Kennebec River in Augusta, Maine.

We were more than a fort in the 18th century... Old Fort Western, built in 1754 and a National Historic Landmark, is Maine's and New England's oldest surviving wooden fort - a reminder of the great contest of cultures that dominated New England life 250 years ago. James Howard's Company garrisoned the Fort and guarded the head of navigation on the Kennebec in the 1750s and 60s. Benedict Arnold used the Fortsite as a staging point for his assault on Quebec during the American Revolution. Our collections and exhibits put you in mind of those historic times.

Whether its fort, store or house, there's a lot to learn at Old Fort Western!

Fort Information

Old Fort Western, built in 1754 and a National Historic Landmark, is America's oldest surviving wooden fort - a reminder of the great contest between cultures that dominated New England life 250 years ago. The Fort was built by the Kennebec Proprietors, a Boston-based company seeking to settle the lands along the Kennebec River that had been granted to the Pilgrims more than a century earlier. The company and the Province of Massachusetts both were interested in expanding their influence in the area as part of an effort by Britain and her colonies to take final political control of North America and to sever what they saw as the ties between the Abenaki (Maine's Indians) and the French in Canada.

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