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Dayton, Fort
Description: Fort Dayton was built in 1776, in Herkimer County, New York. The fortification was constructed on the site of a preexisting blockhouse called Old Fort Herkimer, which was built during the Seven Years’ War decades prior. The fort was situated on the north side of the Mohawk River, and was named for its commander: Colonel Elias Dayton, who oversaw the troops of New Jersey’s Fourth Regiment.
This was contributed by Ken D. Johnson, Fort Plank Historian and author of The Bloodied Mohawk:
"Fort Dayton was indeed constructed in 1776, by troops of the Fourth New Jersey Regiment under the command of Colonel Elias Dayton. Joseph Bloomfield, an officer in Dayton's Regiment states that the fort was named after the Colonel and that the fort was so badly located, a second fortress had immediately erected to prevent the British from seizing it in the same manner they did Mount Independence on Lake Champlain. Thus, a heavy blockhouse was built on a hill overlooking Fort Dayton to protect it from bombardment from above. Contemporary maps suggest that the works included a church which was located in the now northern part of the Village of Herkimer."
This material is covered further in The Bloodied Mohawk published in June of 2000 by Picton Press of Camden, Maine and in an article entitled "In Defense of the Facts."
County: Herkimer County
City, State: Herkimer, New York