Old Fort Western in Augusta, Maine: An Oft Missed Pleasure

Those Who Find the Under-Advertised Fort Western Find a Friend for Life

Located on the eastern banks of the Kennebec River in Augusta, Maine off Freeway 95 (the northerly reaches of 495 and 295), Old Fort Western (Fort Western) is an Historic Site that harkens back to the French Indian, or Seven Year, War. Named after a friend of the Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, it is unique for its private proprietorship, which permitted a series of historic metamorphoses otherwise impossible.

Fort Western lies almost exactly in the heart of Augusta, as the city spreads out both east and west of the Kennebec River (there are a couple of nice hotels in Augusta but very little else of note besides the fort). An Historic Site with a long and complicated history, Fort Western houses displays from three parts of that history, and a section representing a fourth is in active use for school program and general group tour hands-on style demonstrations. The fort building, a long rectangular structure, and the surrounding grounds were reclaimed by well-wishers and the City of Augusta, which now owns it, and restored back to several of its original historic periods and purposes.