FORT HUNTINGTON, located on a site west of the county courthouse at Ontario and Lakeside, was a fortress and supply depot of the Army of the Northwest during the War of 1812, built at the direction of Pres. Jas. Madison to protect the settlement. The fort was named after SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, governor of Ohio 1808-10.
A camp was established at the site in 1812 by local militia under the command of Gen. Simon Perkins. It was called Camp Harrison, in honor of Wm. Henry Harrison, commander of the Army of the Northwest. In early spring 1813, a Maj. Jessup, Regular Army, took charge of the troops. Under his command, Capt. Stanton Sholes, a hero of the Revolutionary War, commissioned by Pres. Madison to the 2d Div. of the U.S. Artillery, arrived in Cleveland. It was under his command that the fort, stockade, and hospital were built. Ft. Huntington was visited by Adm. Oliver H. Perry before the Battle of Lake Erie, and he returned there to celebrate victory. Wm. Henry Harrison, destined to become the 9th president of the U.S., visited the fort after taking command of the Army of the Northwest. He inspected the troops in midsummer 1813.
The site of Fort Huntington was rededicated as a city park in 1977 and serves currently as the commemorative space various local statues and memorials. The primary one is the STATUE OF OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie, and includes a cannon from one of the warships. In 1982 a sculpture executed by WM. MCVEY was added to the park to commemorate the 1936 victory of Clevelander JESSE OWENS in the Olympics. On May 14th, 1994, the Greater Cleveland Police Officers Memorial was dedicated in memory of all the fallen officers of greater Cleveland. Most recently, a memorial to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor John T. Corrigan was installed in 2004.
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See also MONUMENTS, WAR OF 1812.