Misplaced Pages

Fort Belknap
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Flags and artillery at Fort Belknap.
Fort BelknapShow map of TexasFort BelknapShow map of the United States
Nearest city	Newcastle, Texas
Coordinates	33°9′2.79″N 98°44′28.36″W / 33.1507750°N 98.7412111°W / 33.1507750; -98.7412111
Area	15.3 acres (6.2 ha)
Built	June 24, 1851
NRHP reference No.	66000824
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	December 19, 1960

Fort Belknap, located near Newcastle, Texas, was established in November 1851 by brevet Brigadier General William G. Belknap to protect the Texas frontier against raids by the Kiowa and Comanche. It was the northernmost fort in a line from the Rio Grande to the Red River. The fort functioned as a base of operations rather than as a fortified point, and it became the center of a substantial network of roads, including the Butterfield Overland Mail. The fort was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, in recognition of its key role in securing the Texas frontier in the 1850s and 1860s.

Other forts in the frontier fort system were Forts Griffin, Concho, Richardson, Chadbourne, Stockton, Davis, Bliss, McKavett, Clark, McIntosh, Inge, and Phantom Hill in Texas, and Sill in Oklahoma. Subposts or intermediate stations also were used, including Bothwick's Station on Salt Creek between Fort Richardson and Fort Belknap, Camp Wichita near Buffalo Springs between Fort Richardson and Red River Station, and Mountain Pass between Fort Concho and Fort Griffin.

Some notable officers who were stationed at Fort Belknap include Captain Randolph B. Marcy and Lieutenant George B. McClellan. Together, the officers explored the Canadian River and found the headwaters of the Red River. The Second Cavalry was headquartered here in 1858 under the command of Major George H. Thomas.

Prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War, the post was abandoned, partly as a pullback of federal troops to the north, and partly due to the fort's unreliable water supply. "Northern Indians fell upon the hapless Texas frontier with such violence that a whole tier of frontier counties was disbanded..." Families remaining in Young County "huddled in the abandoned buildings of Fort Belknap" and "during snow storms sought shelter in the abandoned buildings."

The fort was briefly reoccupied in 1867, then abandoned for the last time.

The fort was gradually dismantled for building materials, so that by 1936, only the magazine and part of the cornhouse remained. Beginning with the Texas Centennial, portions of the fort were rebuilt and restored, mostly on their original foundations. Starting in 2019, the fort underwent a renovation to update the museum housed in the commissary building and build a new support structure for the historic grape arbor. The arbor includes the largest mustang (muscadine) grape vine known to exist.

The fort is home to the Fort Belknap Archives, which houses records from North Texas.

Gallery

• An 1853 map of the fort by Lt. Col. W.G. Freeman
• Entrance
• Fort Belknap historical marker
• Magazine marker
• CSA marker

See also

• List of National Historic Landmarks in Texas
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Young County, Texas
• Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Young County
• Texas Forts Trail
• Forts of Texas

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "Fort Belknap". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
3. ^ Carter, R.G., On the Border with Mackenzie, 1935, Washington D.C.: Enyon Printing Co., p. 49
4. "NHL nomination for Fort Belknap". National Park Service. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
5. Carter, R.G., On the Border with Mackenzie, 1935, Washington D.C.: Enyon Printing Co., p. 48
6. ^ Neighbours, K.F., 1975, Robert Neighbors and the Texas Frontier, 1836-1859, Waco: Texian Press
7. Kenneth F. Neighbours, "FORT BELKNAP", Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, retrieved 1 May 2013
8. "Fort Belknap set to make some renovations". 12 March 2019.
9. "Fort Belknap, Texas".

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Texas
Lists by county	Anderson Andrews Angelina Aransas Archer Armstrong Atascosa Austin Bailey Bandera Bastrop Baylor Bee Bell Bexar Blanco Borden Bosque Bowie Brazoria Brazos Brewster Briscoe Brooks Brown Burleson Burnet Caldwell Calhoun Callahan Cameron Camp Carson Cass Castro Chambers Cherokee Childress Clay Cochran Coke Coleman Collin Collingsworth Colorado Comal Comanche Concho Cooke Coryell Cottle Crane Crockett Crosby Culberson Dallam Dallas Dawson Deaf Smith Delta Denton DeWitt Dickens Dimmit Donley Duval Eastland Ector Edwards El Paso Ellis Erath Falls Fannin Fayette Fisher Floyd Foard Fort Bend Franklin Freestone Frio Gaines Galveston Garza Gillespie Glasscock Goliad Gonzales Gray Grayson Gregg Grimes Guadalupe Hale Hall Hamilton Hansford Hardeman Hardin Harris Harrison Hartley Haskell Hays Hemphill Henderson Hidalgo Hill Hockley Hood Hopkins Houston Howard Hudspeth Hunt Hutchinson Irion Jack Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jim Hogg Jim Wells Johnson Jones Karnes Kaufman Kendall Kenedy Kent Kerr Kimble King Kinney Kleberg Knox La Salle Lamar Lamb Lampasas Lavaca Lee Leon Liberty Limestone Lipscomb Live Oak Llano Loving Lubbock Lynn Madison Marion Martin Mason Matagorda Maverick McCulloch McLennan McMullen Medina Menard Midland Milam Mills Mitchell Montague Montgomery Moore Morris Motley Nacogdoches Navarro Newton Nolan Nueces Ochiltree Oldham Orange Palo Pinto Panola Parker Parmer Pecos Polk Potter Presidio Rains Randall Reagan Real Red River Reeves Refugio Roberts Robertson Rockwall Runnels Rusk Sabine San Augustine San Jacinto San Patricio San Saba Schleicher Scurry Shackelford Shelby Sherman Smith Somervell Starr Stephens Sterling Stonewall Sutton Swisher Tarrant Taylor Terrell Terry Throckmorton Titus Tom Green Travis Trinity Tyler Upshur Upton Uvalde Val Verde Van Zandt Victoria Walker Waller Ward Washington Webb Wharton Wheeler Wichita Wilbarger Willacy Williamson Wilson Winkler Wise Wood Yoakum Young Zapata Zavala
National parks	Big Bend National Park Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Other lists	Bridges National Historic Landmarks National Natural Landmarks Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks
United States National Register of Historic Places listings Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property

v t e Municipalities and communities of Young County, Texas, United States
County seat: Graham
Cities	Graham Newcastle Olney
CDP	Loving
Other communities	Eliasville Markley Murray South Bend
Texas portal United States portal

• Butterfield Overland Mail stations
• Butterfield Overland Mail in Texas
• National Historic Landmarks in Texas
• Native American history of Texas
• Buildings and structures in Young County, Texas
• 1851 establishments in Texas
• Government buildings completed in 1851
• Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
• National Register of Historic Places in Young County, Texas
• Stagecoach stops in the United States