Fort Belknap Barracks (Young County, Texas)
Fort Belknap, located near Newcastle, Texas in northwestern Young County, was established in 1851 by brevet Brigadier General William G. Belknap. The fort was created to provide settlers of the American expansion movement protection from Comanche and Kiowa raids. It was the northernmost fort in a line from the Rio Grande to the Red River. The fort functioned as a base of operations rather than as a fortified point, and it became the center of a substantial network of roads, including the Butterfield Overland Mail. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, after having been designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
Prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War, the post was abandoned, partly as a pullback of federal troops to the north, and partly due to the fort's unreliable water supply.
The fort was gradually dismantled for building materials, so that by 1936, only the magazine and part of the corn house remained. Beginning with the Texas Centennial, portions of the fort were rebuilt and restored, mostly on their original foundations. Starting in 2019, the fort underwent a renovation to update the museum housed in the commissary building and build a new support structure for the historic grape arbor.
The fort is home to the Fort Belknap Archives, which houses records from North Texas.
Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Belknap_(Texas)
Fort Belknap Barracks (Young County, Texas)
Fort Belknap, located near Newcastle, Texas in northwestern Young County, was established in 1851 by brevet Brigadier General William G. Belknap. The fort was created to provide settlers of the American expansion movement protection from Comanche and Kiowa raids. It was the northernmost fort in a line from the Rio Grande to the Red River. The fort functioned as a base of operations rather than as a fortified point, and it became the center of a substantial network of roads, including the Butterfield Overland Mail. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, after having been designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
Prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War, the post was abandoned, partly as a pullback of federal troops to the north, and partly due to the fort's unreliable water supply.
The fort was gradually dismantled for building materials, so that by 1936, only the magazine and part of the corn house remained. Beginning with the Texas Centennial, portions of the fort were rebuilt and restored, mostly on their original foundations. Starting in 2019, the fort underwent a renovation to update the museum housed in the commissary building and build a new support structure for the historic grape arbor.
The fort is home to the Fort Belknap Archives, which houses records from North Texas.
Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Belknap_(Texas)