peaceful rest

 



On the peaceful shore of Lake Ontario lies a small cemetery which contains 77 graves of  soldiers, women and children who served or lived at Fort Ontario from the French and Indian War to World War II.  The Post Cemetery is situated on the grounds of Fort Ontario. The original Fort Ontario was erected in 1755, during the French and Indian War to bolster defenses already in place at Fort Oswego, near a trading post established in 1727.  In 1759, after being destroyed by the French a second British fort was constructed at this same location. The fourth and current Fort Ontario is built on the ruins of three earlier fortifications used during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812.  It was occupied by the U.S. Army through World War II.  From 1944 to 1946 the fort served as the only refugee camp in the United States for mostly Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust under an Executive Order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  I enjoyed reading the history of the fort but it was closed when I visited.  The cemetery was open until dusk and provided a calm respite after a long day.

 

Fort Ontario

Oswego, New York

9.26.2014