Cannon #1 spews smoke and sparks. Photo courtesy by Tori Tepe.
Militia members demonstrate musket fire just before the firing of the cannons on Saturday, 5/27/17. Photo courtesy of Tori Tepe.
The Fairhaven Village Militia and the Fairhaven Office of Tourism lucked out this weekend, holding their annual spring encampment between the rainy days
On Saturday and Sunday, members camped out at Fort Phoenix in the way a Revolutionary War Encampment would. Activities included a chance for the public to practic tomahawk throwing, spend some times in the stocks, and mill around the campfire.
Lt. Howard Smith shows how a yoke was used to carry water in the 1770s. Photo by Beth David.
Members of the Wareham Minutemen & Militia Companies also camped out at the fort, giving visitors a vast array of equipment to discover and ask questions about. Food was cooked on-site, over an open fire, dishes were cleaned up in wash basins by hand. Children’s games and toys that would have been played in the late 1700s were also available for the public to use. Other activities included musket firings, small cannon and swivel cannon fire, lighting fire with flint, and other demonstrations. The public was able to ask a lot of questions to learn about life in the 1700s.
The biggest draw of the weekend was the firing of the fort’s five civil war era cannons on Saturday night. For more information, call the Fairhaven Office of Tourism, 508-979-4085, or email FairhavenTours@fairhaven-ma.gov.
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