The Military History of New Fort Niagara

1860's: The Army constructs several buildings to garrison an increasing number of troops and officers.

The military history of the area encompassed today by Fort Niagara State Park is an interesting one as the following brief chronology illustrates:

1841: The military reservation known as Fort Niagara is granted to the United States by the State of New York.

1918: Units of the Polish Army, recruited from among Polish Americans and trained at the Fort, leave - via New York City - to join other units of the Polish Army in France. Under the command of General Jozef Haller, it becomes one of the Allied units fighting on the Western Front. Following the November 11, 1918 armistice, it is transported to Poland where it helps secure the country's frontiers.

1922: Fort Niagara becomes the base of The U.S. Army's 28th Infantry Regiment.

1936: The Officers Club on the military reservation is destroyed by fire.

1938: A new Officers Club building - the present one - is officially opened on June 26. The design of its exterior facade, with mansard roof and gabled windows, replicates the French Castle of Old Fort Niagara.

1940: The 28th Regiment departs to train with the 8th Infantry Division to fight in World War II.

1944-5: The military reservation becomes a Prisoner of War Camp for captured German and Austrian military personnel.

1950's: Fort houses engineers and workers from the Nike Missile bases in the surrounding area.

1963: The Fort is demilitarized and the property is ceded back to the State of New York. Most of the 110 odd buildings on the base are demolished. The Officers Club, except for a brief period when it was used as temporary offices for Artpark, remains empty and closed to the public.