By Acroterion - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6868906
Fort Frederick was built in 1756-67 by the colony of Maryland after a £6000 appropriation rquested by Governor Horatio Sharpe. The design conforms to the style developed early in the 18th century by Sebastien de Vauban, a French military engineer considered the father of modern fortification.
The large stone fort was designed primarily as a place of refuge for area settlers. Between 1757 and 1758, small raids by Native people in nearby settlements caused settlers in the surrounding countryside to flee eastward. At the same time men of the 60th Regiment of Foot and local militia soldiers garrisoned the fort. Ranging parties were sent from the fort to patrol the area and to deter if not prevent raids by Native Americans.
The fort was not designed to resist artillery, as it was correctly assumed that the French would not be able to transport artillery to the remote location from the west. It served its purposed in 1763 during Pontiac's Rebellion, but was never directly attacked. It was used as a POW camp during the American Revolution for as many as 1000 British and German soldiers captured during the Battles of Saratoga and Yorktown.
Although abandoned after its sale in 1791, it was garrisoned again at the outbreak of the American Civil War. In 1922, it was acquired by the State of Maryland for use as its first state park.
Source: Wikipedia
----------
One of the oldest roads in the state, Fort Road was originally built by the federal government after Fort Ridgely was completed in 1853-54. Supplies were shipped from Fort Snelling to Traverse des Sioux, then transported by wagon to Fort Ridgely.
Nicollet County Road 5 runs more than 42 miles from its eastern terminus at its intersection with US Highway 169 in St Peter to the Renville County line. Old Fort Road presumably extended from Traverse des Sioux, although the portion running through the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College has been blocked off. Fort Road as an address runs from the western edge of St Peter to the end of CR-5.
In an ideal world, a paved trail would have been installed when the road was refurbished in the early 2010s. This planned geocache trail will have to suffice, but won’t alleviate my anxiety when biking here.