It was the first time that I attended the fall event at Fort Massac in Metropolis, IL. A fort with an interesting history - the land was home to five forts on the same piece of land. The French built the first fort in 1757 during the French and Indian War and was originally called "Fort de L’Ascension." The name was changed in 1759, to honor  Claud Louis d'Espinchal, Marquis de Massiac, the French Naval Minister. It was built to stop British expansion into the land west of the Mississippi River. 

The French left the fort at the conclusion of the war, and it was destroyed by the Chickasaw sometime after 1763.  In 1778 George Rogers Clark stopped on his way to Kaskaskia.

In 1794 George Washington ordered the fort rebuilt and garrisoned.The Fort was damaged in the earthquake of 1811 and rebuilt during the War of 1812. But was decommissioned in 1814.

The state park was built in 1908. The present replica 1802 fort at Fort Massac State Park remains closed pending structural rehabilitation​​​.