[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 2, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E909]]



            TRIBUTE TO FORT MASSAC ON IT'S 250TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN SHIMKUS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 1, 2007

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 250th 
anniversary of one of the most important historic sites in Southern 
Illinois.
  It was in 1757, during the French and Indian War, that French 
pioneers exploring the lower Ohio and Mississippi River valleys built 
Fort l' Ascension on a strategic bluff over the Ohio, near the present-
day community of Metropolis, Illinois. Two years later, the site was 
renamed Fort Massiac. After the Revolutionary War, President George 
Washington ordered the site rebuilt, and in 1794 the fort was 
reconstructed as Fort Massac. The fort is the namesake for Massac 
County and for Fort Massac State Park, which has served generations of 
Illinoisans with the opportunity to see history with their own eyes; to 
gain a greater understanding of how our region and our nation were 
built; and to see the difficulties that our pioneers encountered as 
they settled the area we now call home. This gift is due in large part 
to the hard work of Friends of the Fort, and the staff of Fort Massac 
State Park who have preserved this treasure for us. In 1908, Fort 
Massac became Illinois' first state park.
  Each October, Fort Massac is the site of the Fort Massac Encampment, 
a re-creation of life in Southern Illinois during the late 1700s which 
draws nearly 80,000 visitors. Several weekends during the year are 
dedicated to living history, giving visitors the unique opportunity to 
see life as it was two hundred years ago.
  I want to thank Sue Barfield, President of Friends of the Fort, and 
Terry Johnson, site superintendent of Fort Massac State Park, as well 
as all the local residents and historians who have put so much 
dedication into preserving Fort Massac for future generations to enjoy.

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