Fort Warwick Celebrates 250th Anniversary June 22nd and 23rd

Fort Warwick, located just off of Rt 92/28 in Green Bank, will celebrate an auspicious anniversary this weekend.  Local historian Bob Sheets, on whose land the fort is located, explains.

“Well this weekend we’re having Ft Warwick 250 because in June of 1774 the Augusta County militia build a stockade fortification on the property here in Green Bank and we’ve been doing archeology since about 2006,” said Sheets. “Most recently we completed a major dig in which we used about 90 Pocahontas County high school students and we discovered the gate! And we’re very excited about that along with several other features that we uncovered.”

The fort will be open from 10am to 4pm both Saturday and Sunday with a variety of interpreters and experts on hand.

“We have gun parts and bullets, so we’ll have a gun smith,” he said. “We have nails, so we’ll have a blacksmith.  We have buttons because these folks were obviously wearing clothing, so we have a seamstress who makes colonial clothing.”

“One of the big occupations for Jacob Warwick, William Warwick’s brother, was surveyor; and we have a gentleman coming that will be doing 18^th century surveying the way they did it in the 1700s.”

Other experts during the celebration include an herbalist, potter, tanner, and a fur trader, all trades very much in use during the time that the fort was active.  An archeological artist will also be on hand to demonstrate how artifacts were documented before the advent of photography.

“We’ll also have the Montgomery County Militia out of Blacksburg, Virginia,” said Sheets. “They’re re-enactors and they’ll be camped out near the site and they’ll be interacting with our visitors and they’ll also be following the commands of our fife and drum corps.”

“We have a fifer, Paul Vosteen, who used to perform at Williamsburg, Virginia, and he has teamed up with local drummer Grant Huddle.  They will be demonstrating the music of the period, but they’ll also be illustrating how the drum and the fife were used to command troops.”

While you’re immersing yourself in all this rich history, you can also enjoy a colonial lunch provided by the Mountain State Cakes and music by Juanita Fireball and the Continental Drifters.

The fort was built to provide protection to traders and settlers in the area.  Later, militia members from the fort would fight alongside others at Point Pleasant in a battle against Shawnee and Mingo warriors under the command of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, a battle that was part of Dunmore’s War. The war ended when militia forces compelled Cornstalk to agree to a treaty.  Two living history interpreters, Doug Wood, portraying a Shawnee warrior, and Andrew Bragg, portraying a militiaman, will interact with visitors and talk about the life and culture of these groups.

Sheets is grateful to the community for helping to make continuing excavations and education a reality at the site.

“Because of the people who have supported this and mostly notably, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area, Pocahontas County Fairs and Festivals, the Pocahontas County Visitors Bureau and Pocahontas County Landmarks Commission and the Durbin Lions Club have all been very supportive of the work we’ve done here.”

Fort Warwick is in Green Bank, near the Green Bank Church of God.  Signs will be posted at the entrance and the celebration is from 10am to 4pm both Saturday and Sunday.  More information is available at www.fortwarwick.com.