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Fort St. Joseph

St. Clair County · dedicated 1957 · 540 Elmwood Street, Port Huron

Built near here in 1686 by the French explorer Duluth, this fort was the second white settlement in lower Michigan. This post guarded the upper end of the vital waterway joining Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Designed to bar English traders from the upper lakes, the fort in 1687 was the mobilization center for a war party of French and Indians. In 1688 it was abandoned, but the site became part of Fort Gratiot in 1814.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: Michigan History Center

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