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• 1 media/32-2180-012.jpg 2023-01-12T14:51:48+00:00 A Fort Reborn 6 Preserving the Past for the Next Generation plain 193 2023-05-30T21:21:13+00:00 The city of Fort Wayne has always maintained close ties to its origins. Unlike many Midwestern cities, Fort Wayne retains the word ‘fort’ its name. Detroit (formerly Fort Detroit) and Chicago (Fort Dearborn) have both distanced themselves from their military pasts. The city’s seal features the name ‘Kekionga’ around the edge, the Anglicized version of the Myaamia name for the village of Kiihkayonki. The city flag too points towards the region’s past. Four caricatures representing the Native American, French, British, and finally American periods of occupation are divided by three white lines representing the rivers. The city even recognizes the year 1794 as its founding, despite the fact this was the year the first American fort was completed and the city was not platted out until nearly thirty years later.
  
  This close tie to the Fort likely originates with many of Fort Wayne’s early citizens having lived in or around the Fort before it was torn down. Their children were regaled with stories of the garrison at the Three Rivers, building a sense of city identity very early on. This nostalgia culminated into an effort to rebuild the Fort as a tourist attraction. In 1966, the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society announced the “Historic Old Fort Wayne” initiative. Fundraising and planning began with the vision to build an attraction that would be unique in the Midwest. Initial projections hoped for nearly 300,000 visitors a year. The project cost nearly $1.5 million and recreated the 1815 Fort on a site just a few blocks north of the original.[1]
  
  The site’s opening in June of 1976 garnered attention from all over the region. Swept up in Bicentennial fever, there were high hopes for the site. Historic Fort Wayne featured year round programming and first person interpretation of life at the Fort in 1816. Interpreters were given characters to play from the original records of the Fort, with the hopes it would make the site come alive for visitors. However, the attendance failed to keep up with operating costs. By the end of its first year, the Fort had $580,000 in debt.[2]
  
  The Fort managed to remain open for nearly two decades, but rising costs and debts forced the gates to be closed in 1993. The buildings were sold to the Fort Wayne Parks Department and some small scale events were held, but the Fort’s future was decidedly grim. Parks Department issued a call for proposals in 2004 for organizations that would be willing to take on the operations of the Fort. The Old Fort Revitalization Project, later renamed to match its predecessor Historic Fort Wayne Inc, was chosen by the city to maintain the Fort.
  
  Since then, Historic Fort Wayne has maintained nearly monthly programs at the site, covering a variety of topics and time periods. However, maintenance projects and limited funding have continued to plague the site. Dedicated volunteers work hard to maintain the site despite these obstacles.[3]
  
  Fort Wayne maintains its connection to its rich history through to today. Years of military occupation created the foundation for the city as it is known today. Oftentimes on the front lines of important diplomatic and national moments, the forts of Fort Wayne are important to recognize as key players in the region’s, and even the nation’s, history.
   

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  [1] Todd Pelfrey, "Centennial Heritage:100 years of the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society," Old Fort News 84, no. 1&2 (January 2021): 11-12.

  [2] Pelfrey, "Centennial Heritage:100 years of the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society," 14.

  [3] The author has served as a volunteer at Historic Fort Wayne since 2013 and witnessed many of these struggles first hand.