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Pet Policy
Dogs on leashes are permitted on the premises.
Visitors to Fort Ontario State Historic Site today will see the star-shaped fort dating to the early 1840's with 1863 to 1872 improvements. There are two guardhouses, a powder magazine, a storehouse, enlisted men's barracks, an Army office building, an unfurnished officer's quarters, videos, exhibits and windswept ramparts featuring magnificent views of Lake Ontario and underground stone casemates and galleries to tour.
The fourth and current Fort Ontario is built on the ruins of three earlier fortifications which were the site of three French and Indian War and two War of 1812 battles. It was occupied by the U.S. Army through World War II. From 1944 to 1946 the fort served as the only refugee camp in the United States for mostly Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust under an Executive Order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A post cemetery containing the graves of 77 officers, soldiers, women, and children who served at Fort Ontario in war and peace is situated on the grounds which are open year-round from dawn to dusk.
In 1946 Fort Ontario was transferred to the State of New York and housed World War II veterans and their families until 1953. It opened as a state historic site in 1949.
Dogs on leashes are permitted on the premises.
Hours of Operation
Fort Ontario will reopen for the season Wednesday May 14, 2025.
May 14, 2025 - October 13, 2025
Wednesday- Saturday 10:00am – 4:30pm
Sundays 12:00pm – 4:30pm
Closed Monday & Tuesday
Open Monday Holidays
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Fees & Rates
A list of entry fees and other park use fees is available below. For fees not listed or to verify information, please contact the park directly.
- Admission
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- $4 Adults
$3 Seniors/Students
$2 per person, group - adults
$1 per person, group - students
Children 12 and under Free -
- Day use/Picnicking
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- Free
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250th Anniversary of the United States Army
Saturday, June 14, 2025 10:00 AM - 03:30 PM
Fort Ontario State Historic Site
Join
the Syracuse Recruiting Battalion at Fort Ontario State Historic Site to
celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States Army. Lawn games,
food trucks, historic military vehicles, a revolutionary war encampment and
timeline of uniforms and equipment of the U.S. Army will all be on display
throughout the day.
250th Haudenosaunee Conference Commemoration
Saturday, June 21, 2025 10:00 AM - 04:30 PM
Fort Ontario State Historic Site
In
conjunction with Ganodagan State Historic Site, Fort Ontario will commemorate
the 1775 Haudenosaunee Conference that took place at the site in an attempt to
sway the confederacy to join the British cause. Featured lecture by Maeve Kane,
Professor in the Department of History at the University at Albany, State
University of New York, on her recent book Shirts Powdered Red:
Haudenosaunee Gender, Trade, and Exchange Across Three Centuries. Additional
Haudenosaunee cultural programing and living history happening throughout the
day.