Fort Simcoe #9

Looking back at Officer's Row on our way back to our car.

Fort Simcoe #8

The Commandant even had a rose garden. You can click this one to get a better look at the drawings of the landscape plan. (And a bigger glimpse of the blogger.)

Fort Simcoe #7

Things were a bit more elegant in the Officers' Row residences.

Fort Simcoe #6

Looking back to Officers' Row from the barracks.

Fort Simcoe #5--Canon looking up

Looking up into the sky from the canon wheel at Fort Simcoe.

Other Skywatch photos can be found by checking the links here.

Fort Simcoe #4

Up to 70 soldiers would sleep in bunks stacked two to three high int he barracks. The last of the original barraks burned in 1949. This replica was constructed by the Job Corps.

Fort Simcoe #3

This view across to the enlisted men's barracks was taken from the porch of one of the officers quarters.

Ft. Simcoe #2

The Blockhouse. Blockhouses were built at strategic spots for defense of the fort. This one is a reconstruction.

Fort Simcoe #1

We decided on an excursion to Fort Simcoe one day last month. Fort Simcoe was established in 1856 as a presence to keep control of the Indians in the area. Things had been tense since the treaty in 1855. A history can be found here.
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A suggestion: If you travel some 40 miles to visit a place, check ahead to make sure it is open. We visited about a week after the Fr. Simcoe State Park went into off-season hours. The gate was locked, but no one challenged us as we parked at the gate, ate our picnic lunch, and wandered the grounds on foot. There is a small visitor center with information which would have been open on the weekend.
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Ah, well. It just leaves reason to go again in the spring or summer.