Fort Dobbs was an
18th-century
The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to cha ...
fort in the
Yadkin–Pee Dee River Basin region of the
Province of North Carolina
The Province of North Carolina, originally known as the Albemarle Settlements, was a proprietary colony and later royal colony of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776.(p. 80) It was one of the five Southern col ...
, near what is now
Statesville in
Iredell County. Used for frontier defense during and after the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
, the fort was built to protect the
American settlers of the western frontier of North Carolina, and served as a vital outpost for soldiers. Fort Dobbs' primary structure was a
blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
with log walls, surrounded by a shallow ditch, and by 1759, a
palisade
A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade.
Etymo ...
. It was intended to provide protection from French-allied Native Americans such as the
Shawnee
The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language.
Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...
raids into western North Carolina.
The fort's name honored
Arthur Dobbs
Arthur Dobbs (2 April 1689 – 28 March 1765) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of North Carolina from 1754 to 1764.
Early life and career
Arthur Dobbs was born in Girvan, Ayrshire where his mot ...
, the Royal Governor of North Carolina from 1755 to 1765, who played a role in designing the fort and authorized its construction. Between 1756 and 1761, the fort was garrisoned by a variable number of soldiers, many of whom were sent to fight in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
and the
Ohio River Valley during the French and Indian War. On February 27, 1760, the fort was the site of an engagement between Cherokee warriors and Provincial soldiers that ended in a victory for the Provincials.
Fort Dobbs was abandoned in March, 1761, and disappeared from the landscape. Archaeology and historical research led to the discovery of the fort's exact location and probable appearance. The site on which the fort sat is now operated by North Carolina's Division of State Historic Sites and Properties as Fort Dobbs State Historic Site. The reconstruction of the fort was completed on September 21, 2019.
Background
Settlement of the Carolina back-country
In 1747, approximately 100 men of suitable age to serve in the colonial
militia
A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
lived in North Carolina west of present-day
Hillsborough. Within three years, North Carolina's frontier population increased, driven by the immigration of
Scots-Irish,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
settlers traveling from Pennsylvania on the
Great Wagon Road
The Great Wagon Road, also known as the Philadelphia Wagon Road, is a historic trail in the eastern United States that was first traveled by indigenous tribes, and later explorers, settlers, soldiers, and travelers. It extended from British Penn ...
. By 1754, six western counties—
Orange,
Granville,
Johnston,
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
,
Anson, and Rowan—held around 22,000 residents out of the colony's total population of 65,000.
Construction

In 1755, Governor Arthur Dobbs ordered the construction of a fortified log structure for the protection of settlers in Rowan County from French-allied Native American attacks, and as a barracks for the Provincial soldiers. Dobbs stated in a letter on August 24, 1755, to the
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
that the fort was needed "to assist the back settlers and be a retreat to them as it was beyond the well settled Country, only straggling settlements behind them, and if I had placed
addell's garrisonbeyond the Settlements without a fortification they might be exposed, and be no retreat for the Settlers, and the Indians might pass them and murder the Inhabitants, and retire before they durst go to give them notice". The new frontier settlements required regular protection. Furthermore, Governor Dobbs was concerned for his own investments, as he owned more than of land on the
Rocky River, approximately south of the Fourth Creek Meeting House.
The North Carolina Legislature set aside a sum of
£1000 for the construction of the fort in October 1755. Provincial soldiers, known by the shortened name "Provincials", were soldiers raised, clothed, and paid by the individual
thirteen colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America.
The Thirteen C ...
, although they were at various times armed and supplied by
the Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
. The total cost of the fort was only £1,000. By comparison,
Fort Stanwix
Fort Stanwix was a colonial fort whose construction commenced on August 26, 1758, under the direction of British General John Stanwix, at the location of present-day Rome, New York, but was not completed until about 1762. The bastion fort was bui ...
in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, begun in 1758 in a modern
star fort
A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, meaning 'Italian outline') is a fortification in a style developed during the early modern period in response to the ascendancy of gunpowder weapons such as c ...
style, cost £60,000 to erect, while the construction of
Fort Prince George in
South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
cost that province's House of Commons £3,000.
Dobbs likely had a role in designing the fort, as he had designed at least one other fort in North Carolina, as well as a number of structures in Ireland.
Hugh Waddell, who had close ties to Governor Dobbs and commanded the "Frontier Company" of Provincial soldiers in 1755, oversaw construction of the fort. The land on which the fort was located was a part of a tract owned first by one James Oliphant, then by a Fergus Sloan. Part of the same tract was used for the Fourth Creek Congregation Meeting House (so named because the settlement was on the fourth creek one would pass traveling west on the
South Yadkin River from Salisbury) in 1755, which was the principal structure around which the modern city of Statesville was founded. After construction was completed, it was the only military installation on the colonial frontier between Virginia and South Carolina.
Description and effectiveness
By October 1756, Waddell had substantially completed construction on the fort. Francis Brown and future
governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Richard Caswell
Richard Caswell (August 3, 1729November 10, 1789) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the first and fifth governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1776 to 1780 and from 1785 to 1787. He also served as a senior officer ...
, commissioners appointed by Dobbs to inspect frontier defenses, wrote the following report to the North Carolina General Assembly on December 21, 1756:
The commissioners generally found the defenses of the rest of the North Carolina frontier to be inadequate. In 1756, the North Carolina General Assembly petitioned
King George II for assistance, stating that the frontier remained in a relatively defenseless state. The address to the king further noted that after the
fall of Fort Oswego to the French and their native allies in that year, the legislators did not believe that Fort Dobbs would provide a substantial defensive advantage. Settlers west of the
Yadkin River
The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in the US state of North Carolina, flowing . It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway, Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river a ...
were subjected to regular attacks so that between 1756 and 1759, even after the construction of Fort Dobbs, the population of settlers in the area declined from approximately 1,500 to 800.
In 1759, Waddell brought additional
swivel gun
A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is a small cannon mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rot ...
s for use Of Fort Dobbs. Oral tradition in Iredell County holds that two brass guns were mounted at Fort Dobbs, but evidence of the exact quantity present at the fort has not been conclusively established.
Use and conflict
Early uses
Between 1756 and 1760, Fort Dobbs was used as a base of operations for Provincial soldiers. Dobbs also employed Waddell and the fort to conduct diplomacy with the province's native neighbors. The governor gave specific instructions on July 18, 1756, in a letter sent from New Bern to Waddell and two other men, stating:
In addition to warning nearby natives against attacking settlers in the Carolinas, Dobbs also charged Waddell with attempting to keep peace with the
Catawba. In one instance, Dobbs instructed Waddell to turn over a settler who had killed a Catawba hunter in order to placate the hunter's tribesmen, in the event assurances that the settler would be brought to justice under the province's laws did not persuade the Catawba to remain friendly with North Carolina.
In 1756, Dobbs also approved the construction of another fort, this time in lands claimed by the Catawba, as well as both Carolinas, near modern-day
Fort Mill, South Carolina
Fort Mill, also known as Fort Mill Township, is a town in York County, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 24,521. Some businesses and residents in th ...
. Workmen under Waddell's command began construction in 1756, but in 1757, Catawba leaders, influenced by South Carolina Governor
William Lyttelton, informed North Carolina's government that they no longer wished for this second fort to be built, and construction of the second fort was permanently halted.
The fort's garrison fluctuated yearly. Initially, a 50-man company under Captain Waddell manned the fort. The colony raised two fifty-man companies in 1756 for service on the frontier; Waddell's was to build the Catawba Fort, while Captain Andrew Bailey's garrisoned Fort Dobbs. With construction of the Catawba fort halted In mid-1757, Waddell's 50-man company was added to the garrison. 1758 saw all of North Carolina's troops sent to Pennsylvania to participate in the
Forbes Campaign. The fort was garrisoned by two 30-man companies at the outbreak of the Anglo-Cherokee War in 1759. By the time of the February, 1760 attack on the fort, only one 30-man company was serving at Fort Dobbs.
Decline and fall of Anglo-Cherokee relations
During the
Anglo-Cherokee War
The Anglo-Cherokee War (1758–1761; in the Cherokee language: the ''"war with those in the red coats"'' or ''"War with the English"''), was also known from the Anglo-European perspective as the Cherokee War, the Cherokee Uprising, or the Cherok ...
of 1759–1761, the fort served as the base for a soldiers tasked with repelling
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
raids in the western portion of the province. The Anglo-Cherokee War began in 1759 after the capture of
Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...
by the British and their native allies, including the Cherokee. The Cherokee had felt slighted by General Forbes's inept diplomacy. The Cherokee wished to be treated as allies, while Forbes treated them like enlisted soldiers. Additionally, as many as 40 Cherokee were murdered by Virginia militia in the area around modern-day
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...
. Some of the Virginians attempted to sell the massacred Cherokee warriors'
scalp
The scalp is the area of the head where head hair grows. It is made up of skin, layers of connective and fibrous tissues, and the membrane of the skull. Anatomically, the scalp is part of the epicranium, a collection of structures covering th ...
s to the government of Virginia as the scalps of Shawnee warriors (for which the Virginian Assembly had set a bounty), an act that infuriated the Cherokee. When they returned home, the Lower Settlement Cherokee discovered that settlers encroached well beyond the border established between Cherokee and South Carolina that had been set by the 1747 treaty at Long Cane Creek (west of modern-day
Greenwood, South Carolina). This elevated Cherokee concern that vital hunting grounds would be permanently lost.
In addition to the murders in Virginia, settlers in both North and South Carolina murdered Cherokee men and women. In one instance, a North Carolina hunter named Hamilton and his friend encountered two Cherokee hunters on Brushy Mountain (
Brushy Mountains, North Carolina). Hamilton invited the Cherokee to camp with him. While they slept, Hamilton and his friend butchered the Cherokee hunters with axes. They then murdered a white settler, then claimed they killed the two responsible Cherokee.
All the while, a few pro-French Cherokee leaders and Creek agitators pushed for violent actions against American settlers, despite the opposition of several Cherokee leaders.
War comes to Fourth Creek
In order to obtain justice for their brethren murdered in late 1758 and early 1759, Cherokee warriors attacked settlements on the Yadkin and
Catawba Rivers against the wishes of Cherokee leaders such as
Attakullakulla. In April and May, 1759, as many as 40 men, women and children were killed, and many scalped. Several lived in the Fourth Creek Settlement, within 10 miles of Fort Dobbs. This violence damaged peace talks between Attakullakulla and South Carolina governor William Lyttelton. The violence committed by the Cherokee against American settlers continued, which in turn caused the colonial authorities to seek better relations with the
Creek and Catawba nations. The Catawba, who were allied to the provinces of North and South Carolina, were only able to provide minimal assistance to the settlers, as that tribe had been decimated by
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
in 1759 and early 1760.
All remaining goodwill was lost between Lyttelton's government in Charleston, the North Carolinan government, and the pro-peace Cherokee when Lyttelton ordered the detention of several peace delegations led by headmen
Oconostota, Tistoe, and Round O, despite having previously guaranteed them safe passage. Lyttelton had the delegations shackled, put under armed guard, and secured them at Fort Prince George. A peace arrangement was agreed upon in December, 1759, although the Cherokee agreed under duress, and the pro-war faction of the Cherokee did not obey its terms. Several of the signatories for the Cherokee intended to disavow their promises as soon as they were able, in order to seek retribution for the capture of their peace delegations.
Full-blown war broke out across the Carolina frontier by January, 1760. Ensigns Coytmore and Bell of Fort Prince George, along with some soldiers, raped several Cherokee women in Estatoe, including the wife of Seroweh, a pro-peace leader. Between January and February, 1760, nearly 100 settlers on the Carolina frontier were killed by Cherokee war parties, and the settlement boundaries of both Carolinas had been effectively pushed back by more than 100 miles. Many of the Cherokee captives held at Fort Prince George were murdered in their jail cells in mid-February, 1760 after an attempt was made to rescue them. Coytmore, the commanding officer of that fort who was much maligned by the Cherokee, was killed. Lyttelton, who was soon appointed
Governor of Jamaica, requested assistance from Dobbs, but North Carolina's militia could not be convinced to serve outside of its home province due to long-standing custom.
Battle
The fort's sole engagement occurred when a band of
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
warriors attacked on the night of February 27, 1760. Waddell described the action in an official report to the Governor on February 29, 1760:
At around the same time as this attack occurred, Cherokee war parties attacked
Fort Loudoun, Fort Prince George, and
Ninety-Six, South Carolina. After this wave, Cherokee war parties continued to threaten
Bethabara in the
Wachovia Tract, Salisbury, and other settlements in the Yadkin, Catawba,
Dan River, and
Broad river basins.
The frontier became quiet in May, 1760. Colonel
Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton led a force of 1737 British Soldiers on a punitive campaign against the Cherokee. Hampered by South Carolina's unwillingness to assist, his troops slowly made their way west, attacking and burning 10 Cherokee Towns between June 2 and 3rd. He sought to negotiate a peace with the Cherokee, but was undermined by a local trader. On July 24, Montgomerie's troops began their march north, and were defeated three days later in the
Battle of Echoee
The Battle of Echoee, or Etchoe Pass, was a battle on June 27, 1760 during the French and Indian War, between the British and colonial force under Archibald Montgomerie and a force of Cherokee warriors under Seroweh. It took place near the pres ...
Pass.
The following year, in 1761, North Carolina's General Assembly voted to raise a regiment of 500 soldiers. These men were to join Virginia Provincials in south western Virginia for a joint campaign against the Cherokee Overhill Towns. Simultaneously, Lt Col.
James Grant, 4th of Ballindalloch led a force of nearly 2800 British and South Carolina Provincial Soldiers, and Native American Allies in a second attack of the Cherokee Middle Settlements. Grant's campaign burned 18 Cherokee towns between June 10 and July 3, 1761. The homes and food of approximately 5,000 Cherokee men, women, and children were destroyed.
The North Carolina Provincial Regiment, numbering 400 men, arrived in Salisbury by July. However, the Regiment did not receive their uniforms and weapons until September while at Fort Dobbs. The troops finally joined Virginians at the
Long Island (Tennessee)
Long Island (), also known as Long Island of the Holston, is an island in the Holston River at Kingsport in East Tennessee. Important in regional history since pre-colonial times, the island is listed on the National Register of Historic Plac ...
in October, 1761. However, the destruction of Grant's Campaign forced the Cherokee to sue for peace, making the second invasion pointless.
Post-war history
With the Anglo-Cherokee War ended, North Carolina refused to fund troops to garrison Fort Dobbs. Walter Lindsay, a local militia captain, served as caretaker for the fort. He and his assistants ensured the fort and its stockpile of arms were maintained for use should the need arise. As time passed, the frontier of North Carolina continued to push westward. On March 7, 1764, the North Carolina General Assembly's Committee on Public Claims recommended to Governor Dobbs that stores and supplies be removed from the fort to spare the government further expense in upkeep. In 1766, the fort was described as rotting and collapsing.
Site preservation and archaeology
Archaeological exploration of the site first occurred in 1847, when a group of local residents attempted to locate a rumored original cannon on the site. Evidence of this dig was discovered in the 21st century in a later archaeological study. In 1909, local residents established the Fort Dobbs Chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolution
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War.
A non-p ...
. That same year, the owners of the parcel of land on which the Fort Dobbs site was located donated containing the fort's believed location to the Fort Dobbs Chapter. By 1910, the Chapter erected a stone marker at the site. In 1915, it purchased the 9.9 acres of land surrounding the original donated parcel. The DAR built a two room cabin to serve as their meeting space and visitor center. The logs for construction were donated from houses on the nearby John Hill Summers Farm.
In 1969, the
North Carolina General Assembly
The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, state government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...
appropriated $15,000 to purchase the property, to be matched by funds raised locally by the Iredell County Historical Society; these purchases were made in 1973 and 1974. Initially, the Talley Family sold 11.4 acres to the state and donated an additional 2.08 acres in memory of Mary Colvert Talley. Another 8.22 acres was obtained through a judgement against the Hatchett family in 1974. By 1976, the land was opened as a historic site.
Fort Dobbs State Historic Site was North Carolina's seventeenth historic site. The grand opening was supposed to occur on July 4, 1976 was postponed by heavy rains. The celebration occurred on September 4, 1976. It included speeches, clogging, live bluegrass, and a musical production: "Fort Dobbs: A Musical Drama."
By 2006, archaeologists and historical researchers had determined the exact location of Fort Dobbs, and had located the post-hole foundations of the former log structure. Excavation began in 1967, and by 1968, the site of the fort was confirmed. In 1967,
Stanley South, an archaeologist and proponent of
processual archaeology
Processual archaeology (formerly, the New Archaeology) is a form of archaeological theory. It had its beginnings in 1958 with the work of Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips, ''Method and Theory in American Archaeology,'' in which the pair stated ...
, discovered that by overlaying a transparency depicting a survey of the Fort Dobbs site done in the mid-18th-century on a modern aerial photograph, evidence of the surveyed lines could still be discerned in the modern terrain. Additionally, excavations revealed a moat that surrounded the blockhouse, as well as trash in the moat contemporary with the fort. Early archaeological work concentrated specifically on the moat and a depression called the "cellar", which South believed served as a storage space in the middle of the fort grounds, and which later researchers believe was directly underneath the blockhouse. Archaeological work has unearthed evidence of a palisade surrounding the blockhouse, in a similar fashion to other French and Indian War-era forts such as Fort Shirley near
Heath, Massachusetts, and
Fort Prince George.
In 2006, a researcher affiliated with East Carolina University,
Lawrence Babits, presented a study and a reconstruction plan that has been accepted by the Friends of Fort Dobbs, the
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...
nonprofit organization that supports the site, and the
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is a cabinet-level department within the state government of North Carolina dedicated to overseeing projects in the arts, culture, and history within the borders of the state. The cur ...
.
In his plan, Babits postulated that Dobbs most likely played a role in designing the fort, basing the design on forts with which Dobbs had first-hand experience as an administrator in Scotland, such as
Bernera Barracks
Bernera Barracks is in Glenelg, Highland, Glenelg in the Scottish Highlands, West Highlands of Scotland. The barracks were constructed between 1717 and 1723 as part of a campaign by the British government to subdue the local population which had r ...
near
Glenelg and
Ruthven Barracks
Ruthven Barracks (), near Ruthven, Badenoch, Ruthven in Badenoch, Scotland, are the best preserved of the four barracks built in 1719 after the 1715 Jacobitism, Jacobite rising. Set on an old castle mound, the complex comprises two large three-st ...
near
Kingussie
Kingussie ( ; ) is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road, although the old route of ...
. From these comparisons, the contemporary description of the fort, and the soil record, Babits concluded that the "opposite angles" described by Francis Brown in 1756 actually referred to "flankers", or square wooden structures attached to the corner of the fort that would have allowed defending soldiers to shoot into the
flank
Flank may refer to:
* Flank (anatomy), part of the abdomen
** Flank steak, a cut of beef
** Part of the external anatomy of a horse
* Flank speed, a nautical term
* Flank opening, a chess opening
* A term in Australian rules football
* The ...
of any attacking forces surrounding the building.
Historic site

The State of North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources maintains and operates the area as Fort Dobbs State Historic Site. The visitor center, located in a log cabin constructed from parts of local, 19th-century log structures, features displays about both the colonial fort and the French and Indian War period.
Outdoor trails lead visitors through the excavated ruins of the fort. Events, including many living history demonstrations, are held throughout the year at the fort. The Fort Dobbs site remains the only historic site in the state related to the French and Indian War.
Between 2016 and 2019, Fort Dobbs was reconstructed following a fundraising campaign by the Friends of Fort Dobbs, a non profit organization which supports Fort Dobbs State Historic Site. The Grand Opening on September 21, 2019, was attended by nearly 2000 visitors. The replica is fully furnished to appear as though soldiers walked out just before visitors walked in.
Yearly attendance at the site is about 20,000 people. The staff offers guided tours year round, Tuesday - Saturday. Several times a year, the site hosts living history events exploring the lives of the soldiers, civilians, and Native Americans whose lives crossed on the hilltop more than two and a half centuries ago.
See also
*
Colonial American military history
*
Fort Johnston (North Carolina)
Fort Johnston was a British fort, later a United States Army post, in Brunswick County, North Carolina on Moore Street near Southport, North Carolina. It stands on the west bank of the Cape Fear River, four miles above its mouth.
Colonial
Be ...
– contemporary colonial North Carolina fort
*
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars were a series of conflicts that occurred in North America between 1688 and 1763, some of which indirectly were related to the European dynastic wars. The title ''French and Indian War'' in the singular is used in the U ...
*
Rowan County Regiment
The Rowan County Regiment was originally established in about August 1, 1775 as a local militia in Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan County in the Province of North-Carolina, Province of North Carolina. When the North Carolina Provincial Congres ...
References
Footnotes
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External links
Friends of Fort Dobbs, Inc.North Carolina History Project, "Fort Dobbs"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Dobbs
1756 establishments in the British Empire
Demolished buildings and structures in North Carolina
Dobbs
Dobbs
Dobbs
Military installations established in 1756
Military installations closed in 1764
Military and war museums in North Carolina
Museums established in 1967
Museums in Iredell County, North Carolina
National Register of Historic Places in Iredell County, North Carolina
North Carolina State Historic Sites
Protected areas of Iredell County, North Carolina
Rebuilt buildings and structures in North Carolina