Guarding the western frontier--again

Soon after protecting the site of Fort Dobbs in 1909, the Daughters of the American Revolution recognized the need to reconstruct the blockhouse.  Following initial archaeological investigations in the 1960's and '70's the site became a State Historic Site, but with several key questions about the original structure still unanswered, no immediate reconstruction effort was planned.

In 2003, the reincorporated non-profit Friends of Fort Dobbs took up the vision of then-site manager Beth Hill to begin an effort to rebuild.  More than a decade of hard work ensued.  The Friends undertook a fundraising campaign to fund the effort and co-operated with State officials, historians, historic building specialists, architects, and noted archaeologist Dr. Larry Babits to develop feasible, historically sound plans and the capital needed to make Fort Dobbs stand on the banks of Fourth Creek once again.

Following several other facility improvements to the site, ground was broken for the new fort in August of 2016.  A mix of modern and 18th Century construction techniques have been employed to meet the challenge of building a structure that must simultaneously meet modern building standards while also approximating an entirely hand-build piece of military engineering from 260 years ago. 

Thanks to your support, Fort Dobbs opened as a living history exhibit on a grand scale in September of 2019!



To learn more about the process of reconstructing Fort Dobbs, please view this award-winning documentary produced by our partners at GL Wilson Construction