FORT HUNTINGTON - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

FORT HUNTINGTON, located on a site west of the county courthouse at Ontario and Lakeside, was a fortress and supply depot of the Army of the Northwest during the War of 1812, built at the direction of Pres. Jas. Madison to protect the settlement. The fort was named after SAMUEL HUNTINGTON†, governor of Ohio 1808-10. A camp was established at the site in 1812 by local militia under the command of Gen. Simon Perkins. It was called Camp Harrison, in honor of Wm. Henry Harrison, commander of the Army of the Northwest. In early spring 1813, a Maj. Jessup, Regular Army, took charge of the troops. Under his command, Capt. Stanton Sholes, a hero of the Revolutionary War, commissioned by Pres. Madison to the 2d Div. of the U.S. Artillery, arrived in Cleveland. It was under his command that the fort, stockade, and hospital were built. Ft. Huntington was visited by Adm. Oliver H. Perry before the Battle of Lake Erie, and he returned there to celebrate victory. Wm. Henry Harrison, destined to become the 9th president of the U.S., visited the fort after taking command of the Army of the Northwest. He inspected the troops in midsummer 1813. The site was rededicated as a park in 1977. In 1982 a sculpture executed by WM. MCVEY† was added to the park to commemorate the 1936 victory of Clevelander JESSE OWENS† in the Olympics.

See also MONUMENTS, WAR OF 1812.

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