Archaeologists and historians conjecture that the fort was dismantled after pioneers pushed further westward. Excavations show the moat, cellar, well, and magazine area of the fort.
Exhibits relate civilian and military life of the era.
A playground and nature trail make the site ideal for family outings. Called the French and Indian War, the nine-year conflict began in the Ohio Valley in 1754 and spread throughout the world. The colonial assembly of North Carolina prepared for war, voting funds for troops and ordering the building of a fort on the western frontier. Thus in 1756 Fort Dobbs was constructed by a company of provincial rangers commanded by Hugh Waddell. The new fort was located in the Piedmont region near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and was named in honor of the royal governor of the colony, Arthur Dobbs.