Oswego   – Friends of Fort Ontario will offer free, self-guided and socially distant First Day Hikes of the 75-acre Fort Ontario National Register District on New Year’s Day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The tour will incorporate copies of original photographs of the old stone fort as well as the surrounding buildings and grounds as they appeared during the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 that killed 72 soldiers, nurses, and civilians at the fort, more than 200 Oswego citizens, and 675,000 Americans overall.

Hikers are asked to report to the old stone fort where they will receive a guide booklet which includes a map that will bring them to points where they will stand in the footsteps of photographers to view images and witness how the landscape has evolved since World War I.

Masks are required to be worn inside the old stone fort, and participants are advised to dress for cold and windy lakeside conditions. Due to Covid-19 protocols, the restrooms at Fort Ontario are unavailable to the public, so please plan accordingly.

First Day Hikes are a nationwide National Park Service initiative in cooperation with NYS Parks and are intended to encourage people to begin the New Year by rejuvenating and reconnecting with the outdoors.  In the event of weather or Covid-19 related cancellation, please check the Friends of Fort Ontario Facebook page for updates.

For more information on the Fort Ontario First Day Hike contact Fort Ontario AmeriCorps staffers Corey King or Marilyn Huntington at (315) 343-4711, or email at Corey.King@parks.ny.gov  and Marilyn.Huntington@parks.ny.gov.

Fort Ontario State Historic Site is located at 1 E. Fourth St., Oswego. For Oswego County visitor information go to visitoswegocounty.com.

Photo caption:

The General Hospital at Fort Ontario served hundreds of soldiers and civilians during the Great Influenza Pandemic in 1918. Friends of Fort Ontario will host a First Day Hike exploring “Fort Ontario’s Forgotten Pandemic Past” on New Year’s Day. (Photo courtesy of Friends of Fort Ontario.)