Sec. 2. Findings
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/bill/115/hr/46/eh/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress makes the following findings: From 1755 until 1814, Fort Ontario and three previous fortifications built on the site of the Fort in Oswego, New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario were used as military installations during the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. The original fort, erected by the British in 1755, was destroyed by French forces in 1756. The fort was rebuilt and subsequently destroyed during both the American Revolution and the War of 1812.
The star-shaped fort was constructed on the site of the original fortifications in the 1840s, with improvements made from 1863 through 1872. The United States Armed Forces began expanding Fort Ontario in the early 20th century and by 1941, approximately 125 buildings stood at the fort. On June 9, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that Fort Ontario would serve as the Nation’s only Emergency Refugee Camp during World War II. From August of 1944 until February 1946, nearly 1,000 refugees were sheltered at Fort Ontario.
Fort Ontario was conveyed from the Federal Government to the State of New York in 1946; it was used to house World War II veterans and their families and then converted to a State historic site in 1953. A post cemetery containing the graves of 77 officers, soldiers, women, and children who served at Fort Ontario in war and peace is situated on the grounds of the fort. In 1970, Fort Ontario was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.