Fort Delaware, Narrowsburg

Today’s Fort Delaware is a reconstruction of the original 1755-1785 stockade that helped protect early upper Delaware Valley settlers from raiding Indian parties. The stockade surrounded several log cabin homes and, if threatened, provided refuge for those who lived in the surrounding areas. The settlement contained 30 cabins, a gristmill and a sawmill. Despite its name, Fort Delaware only provided civilian protection and was never used as a military post.


Fort Delaware, known in the 18th century as the Lower Fort, was located within the first white settlement in the Upper Delaware Valley. The settlement was called Cushetunk after the Lenape Indian word meaning “place of red stone hills”. The original settlers arrived here from Connecticut in search of land, which had become scarce in their native state. The group of settlers had formed the Delaware Company and purchased a 10 mile strip of land along the Delaware River from the Lenape Indians. They faced all the hardships associated with establishing a new settlement, including occasional raiding Indian war parties. Although it is hard to imagine nowadays with the Narrowsburg area located so close to New York City, the area was once considered the frontier. Isabel Thompson Kelsay in “Joseph Brant: Man of Two Worlds” describes it thusly: “There was not a wilder, lonelier place on the whole frontier . . . a place where wolves gathered by night but men were seldom seen.”

Fort Delaware is open for tours from Memorial to Labor Day on Friday to Monday. The reconstruction includes several cabins, a blacksmith shop, an armory and stockade walls with outposts. Re-enactors in period dress demonstrate 18th century skills such as blacksmithing, cooking, candle making, gunsmithing, playing colonial era music and weaving. A gift shop and picnic area are also available. Visit their website at www.fortdelawaremuseum.org for more information.