Fort Harmar partners receive annual Flag Award

MARIETTA -- The City of Marietta and Friends of Fort Harmar received the Marietta Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution's annual Flag Award on Wednesday at the Fort Harmar Memorial in Harmar Square.

The award recognizes exemplary patriotism in displaying the American flag. The chapter credited the city and Friends of Fort Harmar for working together to maintain the historic site and preserve the legacy of Fort Harmar and the soldiers stationed there during the nation's early years.

"For decades, West Side neighbors have pitched in to help the city and Sons of the American Revolution maintain the Fort Harmar Memorial site and groom the riverbank," Harmar resident and Friends of Fort Harmar Chairman Tom Fenton said.

Fenton said interest in the site increased after the former Harmar Elementary School was vacated five years ago.

"When the school was vacated five years ago, we began learning how vitally important the fort was," Fenton said.

Volunteers from Marietta and throughout Washington County subsequently formed Friends of Fort Harmar, an Ohio nonprofit organization dedicated to developing the site's educational, historical and community potential.

A detachment of 150 U.S. soldiers commanded by Maj. John Doughty arrived at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers on Nov. 5, 1785, to begin constructing Fort Harmar. The fort was named for Col. Josiah Harmar, commander of the First American Regiment.

The regiment was the first peacetime regular infantry unit authorized by the Confederation Congress following the American Revolution. Soldiers stationed at Fort Harmar were assigned to remove settlers who lacked government-issued land titles, maintain order and support the establishment of federal governance in the Northwest Territory.

Construction of the five-sided fort was completed in 1786. It served as the U.S. Army's field headquarters on the western frontier from 1786 to 1789.