National and State Parks - Recreational Areas
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Fort Laurens State Memorial
Nearby Parks
State Park Information
State Park Overview
Named in honor of Henry Laurens, then president of the Continental Congress, Fort Laurens was built in 1778 in an ill-fated campaign to attack the British at Detroit. Supplying this wilderness outpost was its downfall -s its starving garrison survived on boiled moccasins and withstood a month-long siege by British-led Indians. The fort was abandoned in 1779.
Today, only the outline of the fort remains, but a small museum commemorates the frontier soldier, houses a video giving the forts history and archaeological artifacts from the forts excavation.
The large park surrounding the museum is an ideal picnic site, with two shelters and
the location for periodic military reenactments. The remains of the soldiers who died defending the fort are buried in a crypt in the museum wall and at the Tomb of the Unknown Patriot of the American Revolution.