Fort Wayne

Despite my earlier 5-​star review, my increasingly disappointing dealings with the volunteer organization that purports to be dedicated to «saving» Fort Wayne have soured me greatly. To be clear, this 1-​star rating is not a reflection on the *site,* but again it is solely a reflection on the volunteer group that operates it – the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition.
While most of the actual volunteers themselves are great people, the leadership of this organization appears to be self-​serving and extremely rude to deal with. Instead of humble stewards of a public historic landmark, they seem to see themselves more like «kings of a castle,» though this is usually not apparent from just one or two dealings with them. I’m basing my opinion on a couple years of interaction.
Furthermore, the events they hold at the Fort usually seem to be poorly thought-​out and poorly organized. Granted, we are talking about a volunteer organization, but take for example the Redford Theater (a similar historic venue in Detroit) which is also volunteer-run.they are so professional that one easily forgets that it isn’t a regular business. Why can’t the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition have at least a fraction of that professionalism?
It appears that this 501c3 non-profit’s executive board is run by a clique of aging people who don’t possess the energy or creativity to turn this site into the attraction that it could be. They appear to be out of touch, and this shows in how they set up and run their events. They also don’t seem to be able to play nicely with other groups, as there have been incidents where they have gone out of their way to sling mud on other organizations seeking to participate in Fort Wayne, so as to exclude them from being allowed by the City to operate there. The fact that the same Chairman has been in that same position of power since the organization was founded 15years ago speaks to the fact that things might be a little cliquish.
Finally, I want to say that at least one of their board members is an OPEN RACIST.
During a PAL Soccer game at the Fort in the recent past, a short white-​haired man with glasses made an extremely bigoted remark toward two Spanish-​speaking girls who were part of the soccer league. The remark was full of hate and profanity, and it is clear that the man believed that the two girls truly did not speak English, and could not understand what he was saying about them. It was only later that I learned he was not only a member of the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition, but one of its executive board members, with (albeit limited) decision-​making power regarding this *public* site. He appeared to drive a large red truck, with a bumper sticker that says «WELCOME TO AMERICA, NOW SPEAK ENGLISH.» I find this to be highly inappropriate conduct for a representative of a tax-​exempt organization that has de-​facto control over a public historic park.

I’m actually writing this about the Tuskegee Air Museum. This was an awesome experience for my kids and us. So informative and the guides were engaging and kept the attention of a severe ADD kid and a mildly Autistic child. So much information, all the planes and pictures. It was so cool. I highly recommend this for anyone who like history, planes and or war information.

It’s hard for me to picture Fort Wayne as an historic sight. I was stationed there in 1957 and remember it as another post to be stationed at. I don’t think of it as a rundown relic.

I went here this past weekend with my dad for a flea market they were holding. Mostly people trying to sell their old garbage or cheap jewelry, not too many real antiques or cool stuff. But the flea market wasn’t the only reason for my trip. I had never been to Fort Wayne and neither had my dad. He and I are both big history nuts so we were excited to be here.
You can just walk around the whole site on your own, but I’m sure they also held tours as we passed a few up. You can walk in a bunch of the buildings, some having been restored, others being all original and showing their age. Detroit isn’t a city that seems to appreciate it’s historic buildings like other cities do, which is sad, but Fort Wayne is a great example of some Detroit history that is trying to be preserved.

As everyone has previously mentioned, Fort Wayne was originally built to potentially defend the United States from a British invasion via Canada. Fort Wayne, Detroit operated from 1845 until 1973 as an active U.S. Military Installation — including a Nike Missile site. Today it remains one of only a few «Star Forts» in the world. An aerial view of Fort Wayne clearly shows the Forts distinct star configuration.
However just as significant is the fact that literally tens of thousands of young men were inducted into the United States armed forces beginning with World War I, World War II, Korea and the long and bloody Vietnam War. The young men were given their physical exams, sworn into the Armed Forces and shipped off for basic training or boot camp from Fort Wayne Detroit.
Today Historic Fort Wayne is managed by the City of Detroit Parks & Recreation Department. The Old Fort is slowly being renovated by a small group of volunteers from the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition. Donations and volunteers are gladly invited.
There are regular daytime weekly tours during Spring and Summer hours — admission is only $ 3.00 per person ($ 5.00 per car for parking). There are also «Haunted Fort Wayne Tours» during the summer months conducted by MPI of Auburn Hills, Michigan. These nighttime «haunted tours» are $ 50.00 per person — and are usually sold out every year. A little pricey in my opinion — but, a portion of any admission goes to maintain and restore the Fort.
Overall, I’d highly recommend visiting this fascinating old Military base — for only $ 3.00 per person — it’s really a great bargain and a chance to investigate a tangible piece of American history.
Check out;
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See ya!

I am so glad hubby and I decided (on a whim one lazy weekend morning) to visit Historic Fort Wayne! It is an interesting, historically important former military base. It’s been much neglected over time, which is a plus and a minus.
On the plus side, this place is NOT touristy, so the history you see is au-​naturel. On the minus side, unless it gets some TLC soon, it is quickly going to be in such disrepair it won’t be safe.
Of special interest were the barracks that dated from the 1860s and the concrete gun turrets with service members’ names carved into them. The barracks were almost completely unremodeled and wandering through them was really a step back in time.

They never fought here but its interesting to see. It was suppose to be Detroit last line of defense if attacked or something like that. Its cool to see you get to see another side of detroit and learn about the history of the D. You get to see real cannons and stuff. As a kid my cub scout troup camped out there. You probably don’t care bout Detroits history but if you do its a must visit.

We took the Haunted Fort Wayne tour the other night and had ourselves a blast. There was a presentation by MPI (Metro Paranormal Investigations), a tour, then we were set free at night to go out on our own with flashlights, exploring!
This place is so interesting, especially in the dark with the creepiness factored in! It’s much better preserved than I expected. There are bats, barracks, ghost stories, jail cells, fancy officers’ abodes, a family of foxes, and much more.
It’s an empty little military city from the 1800’s and I loved the feeling of wandering around its dark streets, discovering. Fenced in between two stately homes on Officers’ Row is a burial mound I later learned was made by a civilization so old we’re talking B.C. Apparently, at least 3 Native tribes that later settled in this area banded together to exterminate these mound builders. Interesting too that the barbed wire surrounding the mound faces INward. Hmm.
$ 10 for four hours of fascination. Another reason to love Detroit!

Fort Wayne is not only of historical significance in Detroit, but it also hosts many things that you would not realize, like flea markets, for instance. It is also home of the Tuskeegee Airmen Musuem. If you are a Detroit history buff, then you might want to take a look at this place. It was originally built because a fort by the water was needed when the US was having problems with Britain. Then that got resolved so it pretty much went unused until the Civil War and the Spanish-​American War. It also housed families during the Depression and the Detroit Riots.
I came here with a class and we watched Civil War re-​enactments. Originally I wrote that the re-​enactments were boring, but then I found out that the people involved are of huge support to this historic fort. So I feel compelled to add that I am not interested in military history.
The summer is a great time to check out the fort.