Wisconsin Forts

American Forts: East

WISCONSIN

Last Update: 27/SEPTEMBER/2007

Fort St. François
(Heritage Hill State Park)
(1684 - 1728, 1732 - 1760, 1761 - 1763), Green Bay
Originally known as French Fort la Baye, a frontier outpost and trading post built by Nicholas Perrot. A French Jesuit mission was first established here in 1669. The fort was rebuilt and renamed in 1717. Also spelled St. Francis. It was destroyed by Indians in 1728, and was not rebuilt for five years. It was abandoned in 1760. In 1761 it became British Fort Edward Augustus but was abandoned during the Pontiac Uprising. The original site is on the west-side of the Fox River at the foot of the Dousman Street Bridge, marked by a flagpole. On display at Heritage Hill. Admission fee.
French Fort St. Xavier (unknown dates) was also located here.

Fort Howard (Park)
(Heritage Hill State Park)
(1816 - 1841, 1850 ? - 1852), Green Bay
A Federal stockade with four blockhouses, built on the site of Fort St. Francis/Edward Augustus. The original site is on the west-side of the Fox River at the foot of the Dousman Street Bridge, marked by a flagpole. Two original buildings and two reconstructions are on display at Heritage Hill. Admisson fee.

Camp Bragg (Memorial Park)
(1861 - 1862), Oshkosh
A Civil War training camp. Located at Hazel and Cleveland Streets.

Octagon House
(1817), Fond du Lac
First used as a settlers' fort against Indians but later built into a house in 1856. Used as a station on the Underground Railroad. Admission fee.

Camp Hamilton
(1861 - 1862), Fond du Lac
A Civil War training camp. Renamed Camp Wood in 1862.

John Baptiste DuBay's Post
(1834 - unknown), near Knowlton
An American Fur Co. trading post. Site located south of town now underneath DuBay Lake in Portage County.

Fort Winnebago
(1828 - 1845), Portage
A Federal fort. Only the Surgeon's Quarters, restored in the 1940's, remain. It was originally built in 1819 as a portage house by François LeRoi. The fort was abandoned, and was burned in 1856. Admission fee.
The Garrison School (1850 - 1960) is adjacent to the fort. Also of interest nearby is the restored Winnebago Indian Agency House (1832). Admission fee.
Camp McKown (1840) was located adjacent to the fort.

Camp Randall (Memorial Park)
(1861 - 1865, 1917), Madison
A Union training camp and Confederate POW camp. Later became the state fairgrounds until 1893 when acquired by the University. The park was set up in 1911. Temporarily used as a National Guard training camp in 1917. Now the Camp Randall Sports Complex of the University of Wisconsin. Located between University Ave. and Monroe Street, from Randall Ave. to Breese Terrace.

Aztalan (State Park)
(900 - 1200), Lake Mills
A recreated palisaded Indian village of the Middle Mississippian Culture.

Fort Koshkonong
(1832), Fort Atkinson
It was a stockade with four blockhouses, located near Lake Koshkonong. Abandoned after the last battle of the Black Hawk War. After 1836 it was dismantled for timber. Reconstructed in 1966 at Rock River Park. A memorial (1908) is at the original site. Settled in 1841, the town of Fort Atkinson was named after General Atkinson, who built the fort.

Milwaukee Civil War Camps
(1861 - 1865), Milwaukee
Camp Holton (1861 - 1865), located along North Prospect Ave. Renamed Camp Reno in 1864. Sold at auction in 1866, only the guardhouse still exists, now a private house located on Albion Street.
Camp Scott (1861), located on Wisconsin Ave. west of 12th Street.
Camp Sigel (1861), located at Oakland and Farwell Aves.
Camp Trowbridge (1862), undetermined location.
Camp Washburn (1861 - 1865), located at the old Cold Spring Racetrack west of 27th Street.

Camp Harvey (2)
(1898), Greenfield
A Spanish-American War state muster camp at the state fairgrounds north of town.

Camp Utley
(1861 - 1862), Racine
A Civil War training camp.

Camp Harvey (1)
(1861 - 1862), Kenosha
A Civil War training camp. Located at present-day Green Ridge Cemetery.

Camp Barstow
(1861 - 1862), Janesville
A Civil War training camp.

Camp Treadway
(1861), Janesville
A Civil War training camp.

Joseph Thibault's Post
(1824 - 1830's), Beloit
An independent fur trading post.

Blue Mounds Fort
(1832), Blue Mounds
A fortified mining settlement located one and one-half miles south of the Blue Mound.

Spring Green Shot Tower
(Tower Hill State Park)
(1830's - 1860's), Spring Green
An 185-foot shaft carved into the sandstone bluff, with a reconstructed lead smelter house at the top. A 90-foot long tunnel connects to the collection pool at the bottom of the shaft. One of five remaining shot towers in the country. The others are located in Dubuque, IA, Columbus, OH, Baltimore, MD, and Wytheville, VA.

Fort Jackson
(1832), Mineral Point
A settlers' and miners' stockade during the Black Hawk War. Timber and logs from all the houses and buildings in town were used to construct the stockade and two blockhouses, and several garrisons inside the stockade. Located at Commerce and Fountain Streets.

There were about 15 additional forts and blockhouses in the area in 1832 (undetermined names and locations).

Fort Defiance
(1832), near Mineral Point
A settlers' and miners' stockade during the Black Hawk War. Located about five miles southeast of town in Lafayette County.

Fort Hamilton
(1832), near Wiota
A local militia stockade during the Black Hawk War, protecting a lead mine and smelter located on the Pecatonica River. Built by William Stephen Hamilton, son of Alexander.

Fort DeSeelhorst
(1832), Elk Grove
A settlers' and miners' stockade during the Black Hawk War.

Rountree's Fort
(1832), Platteville
A local militia 100-foot diameter stockade with one blockhouse, built during the Black Hawk War.

Cassville Fort
(1832), Cassville
A temporary town fort during the Black Hawk War.

Fort St. Nicholas
(1683 - unknown), near Prairie du Chien
A French fur trading post built by Nicholas Perrot, located at the mouth of the Wisconsin River.

St. Feriole Island Trading Post
(1781 ? - unknown), Prairie du Chien
French Canadian fur trappers first established a trading post here possibly as early as 1781. An American Fur Co. post was built in 1808. The stone Brisbois House (1815) is well preserved and maintained on North 1st Street. The recreated Astor Fur Warehouse (1820's) is located in Dousman Park.

Fort Shelby
(1814 - 1815), Prairie du Chien
A Federal stockade with two blockhouses. It was captured by the British in July 1814, two months after it was built, renamed Fort McKay, and then destroyed at the end of the war (May 1815). A mansion, Villa Louis (1873), currently sits on the original site of the fort in Dousman Park.

Fort Crawford
(1816 - 1849, 1855 - 1856), Prairie du Chien
Built to replace Fort Shelby, it was abandoned in 1829 because of floods. A replacement was built on higher ground one mile southeast in 1830 and is now the site of St. Mary's College. The Fort Crawford Medical Museum is here on South Beaumont Road. Admission fee. Old Postcard image A | Old Postcard image B | Fort Crawford Site Excavations.

Fort Wales Rock
(unknown), La Farge
Unknown.

Camp Williams (State Military Reservation)
(1888 - present), Camp Douglas
Originally named Camp Douglas. A state National Guard training area and rifle range. Used as a state mobilization center in 1898 and 1917. Renamed later (date ?). Located here is the Wisconsin National Guard Museum, housed in a 1890's log building near Volk Field. The seperate Camp Williams Firing Range is located to the north near Finley.

Fort McCoy (U.S. Military Reservation)
(1909 - present), Fort McCoy
A National Guard training area, originally named Camp Robinson. Became an Army field artillery training area in 1917. Became the Sparta Ordnance Depot in 1919 - 1923. Renamed Camp McCoy in 1926. Federalized and expanded in 1942 for WWII training. Still in use by the Army Reserve as a regional training center.

Nicholas Perrot's Post
(Perrot State Park)
(1685), Trempealeau
Originally a stockaded winter trading post.
Another French fort (Rene Godefroy sieur de Linctot's Post) (1731 - 1736) was built here later. An American Fur Co. post was located here in the 1820's. Admission fee to the park.

Fort St. Antoine
(1686 - unknown), Stockholm
A French fort built by Nicholas Perrot. Marker located on Lake Pepin two miles southeast of town.

Fort Barbour
(1825 - 1830's), St. Croix Falls
A Columbia Fur Co. trading post.

Forts Folle Avoine (Historical Park)
(1802 - 1804), Danbury
Reconstructions of French Canadian trading posts and an Indian village. Another website.

Fort St. Louis
(1793 - 1816), Superior
A North West Co. stockaded trading post on the St. Louis River (Superior Bay). Also known as Fond du Lac Post. Site located at Connor's Point near present-day Second (Bay) and Winter Streets. It had two one-gun blockhouses, two 40-foot long houses and a 60-foot long warehouse. It was the major trading depot for the area up until 1805, when the NW Co. post at Leech Lake, MN was established. After 1813 it became a post of the short-lived South West Co., a joint venture between the British North West Co. and the American Fur Co. (see also Fond du Lac Post, MINNESOTA)
(thanks to Paul Gaboriault for providing info and correct location)

Superior Stockade
(1862 - 1863), Superior
A state militia stockade built to protect the town residents during the Sioux Uprisings in Minnesota.

Fort la Pointe
(Madeline Island Historical Museum)
(1693 - 1698, 1718 - 1759), La Pointe, Madeline Island
French Fort St. Esprit (1693 - 1698), a trading post/fort, was originally located here, protecting a French Jesuit mission established in 1660. The fort was rebuilt in 1718 at or near the same site. This was the principal French trading post on Lake Superior. It was abandoned in 1759. The British then later found their own trading post nearby. It was taken over by the American Fur Co. after the War of 1812. Admission fee to museum.