{"nrhp_refnum":"80002989","name":"Fort Defiance Park","other_names":["De-26"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Fort St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Defiance","county":"Defiance County","state":"OH","lat":41.28753991600007,"lon":-84.35668417999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1.3-acre city park at the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers on Fort Street in Defiance, Ohio, on the site of Fort Defiance, built in 1794 under Major General Anthony Wayne's campaign.","why_significant":"It is the site of a principal and strategic post in the chain of forts Wayne used in his 1793-95 campaign against a British-supported Indian force. After Wayne's victory the fort represented the new American government presence in the Northwestern Territory until Ohio statehood in 1803. It also became the nucleus for the early settlement of the city of Defiance.","narrative":"Fort Defiance Park occupies the point where the Auglaize River meets the Maumee River in Defiance, Ohio. The land was the site of Fort Defiance, built between August 9 and September 14, 1794, during General Anthony Wayne's campaign against a British-supported Indian force. Major Henry Burbeck directed the first phase, a stockaded fort with corner blockhouses. After the victory at Fallen Timbers, the army strengthened the post with bomb-proof vaults and a deep ditch. Wayne considered it the strongest fort he built. The fort was abandoned after 1797, and a settlement grew around it that became the city of Defiance. When the town was platted in 1835, the fort site was donated as a public area, which helped preserve the earthworks. An 1888 federal survey found them largely intact. Today the park holds tree cover, markers, two Civil War era naval guns, a flagpole and remnants of the earthworks marked by a stone path.","period_of_significance":"1794","architect_builder":"Major Henry Burbeck","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Site is stable and maintained by the City of Defiance as part of its park system; remnants of the original earthworks survive, and concrete retaining walls were added along the rivers in 1936.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:11.880261-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/80002989.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002989/114c02b5cf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002989/114c02b5cf-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Defiance,_overview_from_south.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Defiance,_overview_from_south.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988022","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Defiance_(Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5471041"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/defiance-county/fort-defiance-park-80002989/"}