Then and Now: Archeology at Fort Stanwix
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When the American Revolution began, Fort Stanwix was rebuilt and used to protect the eastern colonies from attack from the west. In 1777, a British force under St. Leger moved against Fort Stanwix as part of an attempt to split the rebellion. That attack failed and served as the last major action at Fort Stanwix. After the Revolution, Fort Stanwix served once again as a meeting point between the Americans and the Iroquois and it was at Fort Stanwix that most of the Iroquois territory in the western part of New York State was opened to settlement. Fort Stanwix during the attack in 1777.

Dominck Lynch, founder of Rome, New York.

The area around Rome was purchased by Dominck Lynch in 1786 from the State of New York and he established Lynchville in 1794. Lynch did not sell property but leases, hoping to gain wealth and position like the great landowners of the Hudson Valley. Annual rents were due in cash or grain and if payment was not received the land would revert to Lynch.

In 1796, John Barnard leased 22 lots on Dominick Street. In about 1800, he built a tavern on the site of the Saulpaugh Armstrong block in the northern part of the Willett Center site. Barnard's Tavern was operated as a hotel until 1842.
Lynchville was given a boost in 1797 when the Western Inland Lock and Navigation Company completed the first canal in the area connecting the Mohawk River on the east with Wood Creek on the west. The Western Inland Lock and Navigation Company had General Phillip Schuyler and president and a director; Dominck Lynch and Colonel Marinus Willett were also directors. William Weston, an English engineer, constructed the canal. A Durham boat on the Mohawk River during the era of the Western Inland Canal.
This two-mile canal made the final link in the all-water route across New York State to Oswego and created the potential for tremendous strides in transportation and commerce. The canal was designed for boats of forty-ton capacity but in dry seasons the canal could only be passed by boats of three to fifteen tons. The costs involved with the canal exceeded the income and the Western Inland Lock and Navigation Company folded about ten years later.

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