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The fort guarded the oxcart trails of the later fur trade era, military supply wagon trains, stagecoach routes, and steamboat traffic on the Red River. It also was a supply base for two major gold-seeking expeditions across Dakota into Montana. Fort Abercrombie served as a hub for several major transportation routes through the northern plains.
After
the fort was abandoned in 1877, fort buildings were sold and removed from the
site. A Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1939-1940 reconstructed
three blockhouses and the stockade and returned the original military guardhouse
to the site. Beginning in the summer of 2001, a project to refurbish major portions
of the WPA project and to reinterpret the site was initiated by the state historical
society.
Fort Abercrombie State Historic Site is divided into two parts: a modern museum,
park pavilion, and recreational facilities are located on the east edge of the
town of Abercrombie; and the historic fort itself is located approximately one-fourth
mile further east on Richland County Road 4, which bisects the historic site.
From the parking lot on the north side of the county highway, visitors may walk
around the interior square of the parade gound to view the reconstructed palisade,
two reconstructed blockhouses, the original guardhouse, a reconstructed cannon
bastion, several "ghosted" buildings, and informational markers describing
the site. (go to map of fort)