Fort Delaware: a regional historic treasure

By SANDY LONG

NARROWSBURG, NY — Linda Dexter is passionate about the past. The director of Fort Delaware, a museum of colonial history, is equally passionate about preserving a special part of regional history for future generations, as well as raising awareness of a bygone lifestyle with current generations accustomed to the comforts of modern life.

“How do you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been?” she asks.

Dexter’s interests revolve around the Cushetunk settlement of 1755 to 1785, where the first pioneers of the Upper Delaware River Valley carved out lives. Although the original site of the settlement was located nearby in Pennsylvania’s Milanville, today’s replica sits along Route 97 in Narrowsburg, and features a living museum where special events are scheduled throughout the summer to recreate what life was like for those early settlers, who came primarily from eastern Connecticut.

Today, historic interpreters bring to life the types of activities and methods employed by the settlers. Cooking demonstrations utilize 18th-century recipes, while encampments offer mock battles, military and musketry demos and period costumes. New this year will be a Colonial Costuming program, a Textile Weekend featuring various forms of fiber arts and the Narrowsburg Logging Day events (see sidebar).

The museum’s gift shop contains a large assortment of carefully selected items such as folk toys like hardwood tops, kazoos, marbles, crochet, knitting and spinning kits. Items created on a historic loom at the fort are sold, along with handcrafted leather goods, hats, scarves, beeswax candles, publications and other historical resources.

Other interesting artifacts include displays of powder horns, textiles, arrowheads, guns, hand-carved canoes, trapping devices, furs and more. A medicinal and culinary garden is kept to show the types of plants the settlers relied upon, including a form of complimentary planting using “the three sisters,” corn, beans and squash, which were staples of the settlers diets.

Scouts have earned badges through activities at the fort, and students who work at the fort during the summer create their own costumes as they learn about the daily challenges of life in Colonial times.

For adults and youngsters who have grown up with modern conveniences like running water, electricity and grocery stores, Fort Delaware is a fascinating find in a fast-paced world. “It really gives people an appreciation for what we have today,” said Dexter.

Fort Delaware is open on weekends through Labor Day. For rates and hours call 845/252-6660.

Fort Delaware upcoming events

June 26-29 Colonial Cooking

July 3-6 Independence Day festivities

July 10-13 Daughters of the American Revolution

Sons of the American Revolution

July 17-20 24th Connecticut Revolutionary War Encampment

July 24-27 Descendant Days (Picnic on the 25th)

July 31-Aug. 3 Herbal Heritage

August 7-10 Colonial Costuming

August 14-17 Children’s Weekend

August 21-24 143rd New York Volunteers Civil War Encampment

August 28-31 Textile Weekend

September 4-7 Narrowsburg Logging Days activities