Fort Benjamin Hawkins Fort Hawkins was a fort built in 1806 - 1810 in the historic Creek Nation by the United States government under President Thomas Jefferson and used until 1824 . Built in what is now Georgia at the Fall Line on the east side of the Ocmulgee River , the fort overlooked the sacred ancient earthwork mound s of the Ocmulgee Old Fields , now known as the Ocmulgee National Monument , and the Lower Creek Pathway . A trading settlement and later the European - American city of Macon , Georgia developed because of the fort . During this period , the fort was important to the Creek Nation , the United States and the state of Georgia for economic , military and political reasons . The fort originally had a tall log palisade surrounding a 1 - complex . It had living and working quarters as well as two blockhouses on diagonal corners . A replica of the southeast blockhouse was constructed in 1938 after archeological excavations in 1936 showed the appropriate site . It has become an icon of Macon . The Fort Hawkins Archeological Site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is included within the boundaries of the Fort Hill Historic District , also listed on the NRHP . The Fort Hawkins Commission directed archaeological excavations in 2005 - 2007 , which found evidence of a second palisade on the site as well as several large brick buildings . In addition , the work recovered nearly 40 , 000 artifacts , indicating a more complex history of Native American and European - American interaction than had been known . Historical research by the archeology team has also added to new knowledge about the fort , its characteristics and significance . In 2008 the Commission completed a Master Plan for development of the site , eventually to include reconstruction of the entire fort complex . It will display and interpret the thousands of artifacts found at the site , which represent the many tribes of American Indians and pioneer European Americans whose lives met in the area through complex trading and living relationships . Excavations are continuing at the fort site . History . Fort Hawkins was built by the United States in 1806 and through 1824 , it was a place of " relatively great economic , military , and political importance . " For the Creek Nation , it was a center of the deerskin trade with European Americans , who had a trading post or factory there , but for them it was most important as related to their sacred grounds at Ocmulgee Old Fields . This continued to be a significant social and ceremonial center . The US government used the fort as a military command headquarters on the southeastern frontier , " a major troop garrison and bivouac point for regular troops and state militia in several important campaigns , and a major trade factory for regulating the Creek economy . " President Thomas Jefferson had forced the Creek Nation to cede its lands east of the Ocmulgee River , except for the sacred Ocmulgee Old Fields . The fort was built at the fall line of the river , about a mile uphill , at the end of navigable water from the Low Country to the Piedmont . It was to be a point for the government ' s " civilization " of the Creek through introduction of European - American farming and cultural practices . To the north of the fort passed the Lower Creek Pathway , which was improved as part of the Federal Road to connect Washington , DC with the ports of Mobile , Alabama and New Orleans , Louisiana . This change encouraged the travel of many more troops , settlers and tourists to the area and encroached on the Creek Nation territory . The fort was named for Benjamin Hawkins , who was still serving as the General Superintendent of Indian Affairs ( 1796 – 1816 ) south of the Ohio River , as well as principal US Indian agent to the Creek . A former US Senator from North Carolina , Hawkins had been appointed by President George Washington to deal with the Choctaw , Cherokee and Chickasaw in the larger territory , and helped gain years of peace between the Creek and European - American settlers . He married Lavinia Downs , a high - ranking Creek woman , and learned the language well . Their several children were born into her clan . He wrote about the Creek and related societies . The fort was used during US military campaigns of the War of 1812 against Great Britain . General Andrew Jackson visited the Fort and used it successfully as a staging area for the War of 1812 ' s Battle of New Orleans , as well as the following Creek and Seminole wars . After the frontier moved further westward , the military threat in inland Georgia essentially ceased . Through the treaties of 1825 and 1826 signed with the US , the Creek were forced to remove west of the Chattahoochee River the following year . The city of Macon was founded in 1823 , and by 1828 , the Fort was in private ownership . During the active years , Georgia used the fort as a state militia headquarters and muster ground . It was a point of interaction with " the US Army , the Creek Nation , the Georgia militia and the Georgia government . " The fort helped reinforce Georgia ' s western frontier until the state took control by getting the Creek removed to the west , and filling lands with European - American settlers . Ancient cultures of indigenous peoples had long settled near the river . Evidence of 17 , 000 years of continuous human habitation has been found at Ocmulgee National Monument . Historically , American Indian peoples from the Cherokee , Chickasaw , Muskogee , Choctaw and Seminole nations ; ethnic European Americans from England , Germany , Ireland , Scotland , and Spain ; and African - descended peoples originally speaking numerous languages from a variety of ethnic cultures of West Africa , are all represented at the fort . Nearly 40 , 000 artifacts from trading and residence have been found in 21st - century archeological excavations at the fort site . Preservation , reconstruction and excavation . From 1928 the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Macon Kiwanis Club began fundraising to create a replica of one of the blockhouses to memorialize the fort . In 1933 the government began archaeological excavations at the Ocmulgee Old Fields , supported by workers and funding of the US Works Progress Administration ( WPA ) under President Franklin D . Roosevelt during the Great Depression . In 1936 , one of the arcaheologists , Gordon R . Willey , did enough work at Fort Hawkins to establish the original footprint of the southeast blockhouse . Construction of a replica blockhouse was completed as a WPA project in 1938 . Some of the original stones were recovered to be used in the basement section . The upper floors were made of concrete formed to simulate the original wood timbers , intended to be more durable at a time of uncertain funding for historic work . Because historical records had been destroyed when Washington , DC was burned during the War of 1812 , in 1971 the city authorized limited archaeological excavation to establish the original dimensions of the fort . The excavation revealed numerous ceramic artifacts , including remnants of English - American styled dishes used by residents , dated from c . 1779 - c . 1834 . In 1977 the Fort Hawkins archeological site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places ( NHRP ) . The City of Macon acquired the historic site in 2002 , with help from the state ' s Greenspace Program and funds from the Fort Hawkins Commission and the Peyton Anderson Foundation . After redevelopment , the city and Commission plan to use the fort site as a greenspace park and as a history center for the city . The southeast blockhouse , which is occasionally opened to the public , has become an icon of the city . Archeologists were concerned that construction of the Fort Hawkins Grammar School and a road on part of the site in the mid - 20th century had destroyed the archeological record . Since 2005 , archeological excavations at the fort site have shown that extensive artifacts and stratigraphy have survived and can be interpreted . From 2005 - 2007 , in a cooperative project supported by the city , the Fort Hawkins Commission ( est . 1990 and led by Marty Willet ) , the Society for Georgia Archaeology , and the LAMAR Institute , funded archaeologist Daniel T . Elliott , who led a team in extensive excavations of the fort site . The work revealed evidence of two forts having been constructed there . The final fort had several brick buildings and only one of wood , making it a more substantial complex than originally thought by the limited historical descriptions . In 2007 additional palisades were found , with research indicating that it is likely the outer area was built from 1809 - 1810 by the US Army ' s Regiment of Rifles . By creating a public website for the fort and the archeological work , the Commission and Society for Georgia Archeology have promoted a wider understanding of the research , and the items that have been found . The Commission and Society have also sponsored public presentations in an effort to educate a wider audiences about the fort , its role as a military and economic center , and as a focal point for the interaction of people and cultures . The nearly 40 , 000 artifacts recovered from the fort era ( 1806 – 1821 ) , provide insight into the lives of the different groups of people interacting with one another on the American frontier . This evidence demonstrates a more complex and significant history at the fort than previously believed . It has provided evidence that the fort was more important than previously understood , indicating the need for additional study and interpretation of the artifacts . The Fort Hawkins Commission developed a Master Plan in 2008 for the site , which includes a proposal to reconstruct the entire 1 . 4 acre ( 5 , 700 m² ) complex . Excavations in October 2011 concentrated on the outer western and southern walls ( circa 1810 ) of the former stockade . An intrusive 19th century cellar , associated with the Thomas Woolfolk plantation , was also sampled during the 2011 field season . Limited excavations in May 2012 focused on discovering remnants of the northwestern blockhouse . Indirect evidence of the blockhouse is indicated by the abrupt termination of the western palisade wall ( circa 1806 ) at its northern end . All outward indications of the blockhouse have been lost to erosion and grading .