The Fort

Gorham's first settlers built a fort in 1743-1744 to protect themselves from the Indians during the French and Indian Wars. The fort was 60' X 50' with walls 12 feet high. Close to a dozen families and ten soldiers lived within those walls. At times, the men tended their fields, but retreated to the fort when threatened. It was not until the British gained control of Quebec in 1759 that the settlers started to feel that it was safe to go home to their farms.

In the winters before the war, children of both the Indians and the settlers might have been found racing down a snowy Fort Hill on the bark from birch trees. In the seasons that followed, playmates remained fierce enemies until peace was officially agreed upon in 1763.