page_title: Fort Niagara
section_title: Later use
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Niagara / Later use
caption_attribution_description: Fort Niagara in New York State, seen from Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Canadian side of Niagara River. Photo taken on October 9, 2006.
context_page_description: Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth, on Lake Ontario.
context_section_description: The name "Old Fort Niagara" which is associated with the fort today does not refer to its age but to distinguish the colonial-era fortress from its more modern namesake. The post-Civil War era saw the building of "New Fort Niagara" outside the original walls of the fort. Following the Civil War, the military abandoned the use of masonry forts (masonry fared poorly under bombardment), for the style of military camp we now know. The newer Fort Niagara contained a thousand-yard rifle range, access to rail lines, and access to the industrial areas of Niagara Falls and Buffalo. Fort Niagara trained troops for the Spanish–American War and World War I, and during World War II served as an induction center and later a POW camp for 1,200 German soldiers captured in North Africa. After WW II, the fort provided temporary housing for returning veterans.
  During the Korean War, the fort was a headquarters for anti-aircraft artillery and later Nike missiles. The Niagara Falls Defense Area originally formed the northern half of the U.S. Army Anti-Aircraft Command defenses in western New York State. After the amalgamation of the Niagara Falls and Buffalo Defense Areas, the Army Air Defense Command Post moved to Lockport Air Force Station. Formations directing the defense included the 2nd Artillery Group (Air Defense), which had its headquarters at Fort Niagara from March 1958 to December 1961, superseded by the 31st Artillery Brigade (Air Defense), 101st Artillery Group, and 18th Artillery Group. The only battalion in the region appears to have been the 44th Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion, superseded by the 1st Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, on 1 September 1958.
  The U.S. Army officially deactivated Fort Niagara in 1963, and the 1/4 ADA moved to the Seattle Defense Area where it was active from September 1972 to April 1974. Military presence on the site continues with the United States Coast Guard still operating at "The Bottoms", making Fort Niagara one of the longest continuously run military bases in the United States, 1726–present day.
  In 1931, after nine years of lobbying by local citizens for repairs and preservation, a formal operating license between Old Fort Niagara Association and the U.S. War Department established rights to preserve and operate the fort. In 1949, Congress transferred Father Millet Cross National Monument (a small memorial at Fort Niagara) to the State of New York. In 1960 the fort was among the first sites designated as National Historic Landmarks.
caption: View of Fort Niagara from the Canadian side of the Niagara River
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