08/13/2026
Erika Hartley, The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project Director, wrote an article for the latest issue of Michigan History Magazine! Check it out to learn about Fort St. Joseph’s connection to the American Revolution and the archaeology taking place at the site.
Fort St. Joseph, located in Niles, Michigan, was a mission, garrison, and trading post complex established by the French in Indigenous territory and occupied from 1691 to 1781. Niles is nicknamed the “City of Four Flags” referencing the region’s history of French, English, Spanish, and American rule. With so much history to uncover, archaeological excavations at the fort contribute to our understanding of eighteenth-century life.
Research over the past 25 years has revealed the layout of four buildings as the site where fur traders and their families resided, as well as a domestic and workshop complex for the resident blacksmith. By examining objects found in and around these buildings, researchers are learning more about the people who once occupied them. For example, the wooden posts, stone foundations and fireplaces, iron hardware, and window glass recovered indicate that residents of the fort constructed their buildings in European styles. However, animal bones present at the site show that residents were consuming local foods, such as white-tailed deer, rather than solely relying on domesticated livestock as was the European fashion at the time.
Learn all about the incredible archaeological work being done in the region in the article “A Little Post Called St. Joseph: The Revolutionary War Era in Western Michigan” in Michigan History magazine. Explore the July/August issue at https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history
