Sandwiched Between Columbus And Pittsburgh Is Ohio's Reconstructed Military Fort With River Views And History

Before Steubenville became a city, it was a rugged frontier outpost. You might expect its earliest colonial footprint to be buried under layers of changing city construction, but you can actually see what the initial Fort Steuben looked like at its original site. The Historic Fort Steuben is a reconstruction of the original military outpost set up in the late 1700s on the Ohio River. The fort brings the site's history to life, with furnished log buildings, interpreters to guide you through the fort, and, in past years, reenactments on-site.

While the fort looks to the past, its location makes it easy to include in a modern road trip. Steubenville is a hidden, charming river town about a 45-minute drive from Pittsburgh or a 2.5-hour drive from Columbus. The fort is a worthwhile historic addition to a weekend getaway or a stop on a longer road trip through the Ohio River Valley. When you visit the Historic Fort Steuben, you have the option for either a self-guided tour or a tour with an interpreter. The interpreters have received strong praise from reviewers for their knowledge, and the fort's website recommends calling ahead to reserve a guide if you want one.

Aside from touring the reconstructed fort, you can also stop by the site's visitor center, where there's a museum with exhibits and artifacts from throughout Ohio's history. Some of the artifacts on display are from the archaeological digs at the site itself. Surrounding the fort, there's a wider, scenic park with an amphitheater, fountain, and views over the river.

Back when the United States was still being mapped, Fort Steuben was built to defend surveyors of the newly opened Northwest Territory, as the National Park Service (NPS) tells it. The fort hosted troops of the First American Regiment. The NPS includes Historic Fort Steuben on its Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, though the two explorers never visited the actual fort — it was already gone by the time they arrived at Steubenville in 1803. The fort's history was short-lived, lasting from 1786 to 1790, when it burned down.

Despite its short chapter, the Old Fort Steuben Project, Inc. was able to recreate the fort based on historic letters, maps, and archaeological findings, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The reconstruction is a unique distinction from another Fort Laurens, another Ohio military fort that was demolished and now offers a museum. Today, the reconstructed Fort Steuben is arranged around a central yard with stockade walls. Log buildings line its border, including quarters, blockhouses, and a hospital. Inside each building, you'll see replica furniture and tools set up to look as it might have appeared in the 1700s.

Climb up into the elevated guardhouse for a treat: a view over the Ohio River and the bluffs on its West Virginia bank. The site was, in fact, chosen for its river vantage point when it was first established, according to the Historic Fort Steuben website. You could spend more time walking around the park outside the fort walls, which sits on a little hill along the river. Afterward, if you're looking for more riverside excursions, you could trace the Ohio River on a roughly 10-minute drive north to Weirton, West Virginia's underrated mountain town with quaint charm.