Name/Title
Model of Fort GeorgeEntry/Object ID
OH.1286Description
Wood model of Fort George, Brunswick, Maine, by Benjamin Furbish. The model consists of a wood square made by nailing four boards together. This forms the main outside wall of the fort. The sides are between the front and back boards and are nailed with three nails at each corner. A door is carved into the front with three windows equally spaced along the wall above. The other walls also have three windows. The windows and door are not cut through, but just scratched out and blackened. Lines have also been drawn on the walls to represent large stones, with which the real fort was constructed. A large block of wood with a single gable, hipped at the ends, and narrow chimney nailed to one hip, forms the center building. The building consists of a large wood block on top of a thick board nailed to it. The door and four windows with a single shutter each on the front have just been outlined-and are barely visible. Four identical small boxes with recessed flat tops nailed to the sides form the four corner blockhouses. Two of the sides of the small boxes do not meet in the corner and a notch has been cut out of the roof there so they may fit against the corners of the fort walls. The complete blockhouse sides have two windows each, and the short sides, one window, all of which are in line with those on the fort wall. The corner blockhouses are free standing, but were nailed to the fort walls at one time. The brads are still there in some places. The model is stained, apparently after the blockhouses were attached, but there is no finishing coat.A note on the model reads, "Model of Fort George. Begun Aug. 1715, completed Dec. 1715. On site of present Cabot Mill. Made by Benj. Furbish." The dates refer to the Fort's construction, not the model.
Undated.Lexicon
Search Terms
Fort George, Toys, Model fortExhibitions
Exhibition
Adaptation and Resistance: Indigenous History of the Pejepscot RegionNotes
This model shows what Fort George, in Brunswick, Maine may have looked like. The Pejepscot Proprietors, who claimed possession of Brunswick during this time, ordered the fort to be built in 1715, during Queen Anne’s War. The Proprietors needed to retain control of the Brunswick region so they could continue selling parcels of land to make money for their shareholders. A strong military presence and oppression of Indigenous people was critical to this plan. To accomplish this, they offered strong financial incentive to soldiers manning the fort.
Wooden model of Fort George, made by Benjamin Furbish in the nineteenth century. It shows a central building surrounded by walls. Each corner has a blockhouse to defend all sides.