Fort Howard (1830s)
After the War of 1812, Americans began to realize the need to defend and settle their new territory. This new country now stretched halfway across the continent, far from the settled seacoast, into lands inhabited by American Indian tribes and French settlers, but still claimed by Britain. As Americans pushed westward to take over the fur trade, the United States government built a chain of forts in the western Great Lakes to protect and defend the great river routes into the interior. By 1816 a log stockade above the western bank of Green Bay established Fort Howard as a crucial link in the western chain. Fort Howard connected eastern forts such as Fort Niagara (New York) and Fort Detroit (Michigan) with frontier outposts such as Fort Winnebago (Portage, Wisconsin), Fort Crawford on the Mississippi River (Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin), and Fort Snelling (Saint Paul, Minnesota). Each protected a strategic point along the waterways connecting the interior with the settled east. In 1820, the troops moved across the river and formed Camp Smith in what is now Heritage Hill State Historical Park. This area became the first American settlement west of Lake Michigan.
Fort Howard Guard House
Originally built by the U.S. Army in 1833-1835 and relocated to Heritage Hill in 2010 from the north side of Bond Street between Broadway and Chestnut Streets in Green Bay. The construction style is in the Federal style.
This original Fort Howard building was constructed on the west bank of the Fox River between 1833 and 1835. Any visitor wanting to access to Fort Howard was required to enter through the lower sally port of this building. The upper story rooms served as the Commanding Officer’s office, on-duty guards’ room, light prison, and post library. In the lower portion of the guardhouse is the full prison for serious offenders.
Fort Howard Gallery, a Permanent Heritage Hill Exhibit
located in the sally port under the Commanding Officer’s Office.
Explore the timeline of Fort Howard’s construction and how its use changed over time and view original artifacts associated with the military history of the area.
Fort Howard Hospital
Originally built by the U.S. Army in 1834-1835 and relocated to Heritage Hill in 1975 from the corner of Kellogg and Chestnut Streets in Green Bay. The construction style is a timber frame in the Federal style.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hospital was built outside the walls of the fort during the years of 1834 and 1835. After the purchase of the land by the railroad, the hospital was moved to the corner of Kellogg and Chestnut Streets and used as a private residence. The building design is a timber frame construction with dormer windows, modeled after the Federal architectural style popular from 1780-1830. The hospital was constructed in two phases and is actually two separate buildings.
Fort Howard Officer’s Quarters
Built in 1982 at Heritage Hill in the Federal style.
This building is a reproduction built to the historic specifications of an 1830s surgeon’s residence. The architecture is in the Federal style, built with a frame construction and dormer windows. Interpreted as the Officer’s Quarters, it showcases how officers and their wives would have lived during their time at Fort Howard. This building also houses our education department.
Fort Howard Post School
Built in 1982 at Heritage Hill in the Federal style.
The first school recorded at Fort Howard was in 1824 when Colonel McNeill, commander at the Fort, organized an educational group for the officers’ children and local children. According to research, instead of constructing a new building, they converted an already erected structure into the school. The construction and architecture of this original school is unknown, but it is assumed that it would have been similar to other fort buildings following in the Federal style of architecture.
Company Kitchen/Orderly Room
Originally built by the U.S. Army circa 1835 and relocated to Heritage Hill in 1975 from the corner of Kellogg and Chestnut Streets in Green Bay. The construction style is timber frame in the Federal style.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the company kitchen was built by the 5th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army between 1831 and 1835. We do not have records of the exact 1836 use of this building, but to give guests the full fort experience, we interpret it as a Company Kitchen/Orderly Room. After the fort was dismantled, this building was used as a private residence and a museum before moving to Heritage Hill in 1975. The architecture style is of the Federalist period with frame construction and dormer windows.