By Paul Rowley - August 11, 2026

BOLIVAR, Ohio — In November 1778, over the course of 10 frantic days, about 1,300 Continental soldiers built a ramshackle but formidable stockade near a bend of the Tuscarawas River. In the midst of the American Revolution, they felled trees and muscled 300‑ to 400‑pound logs across the frozen ground, securing themselves as best they could behind rough‑hewn walls on a bluff above the water. They were safe, at least for a while.

YourOhioNews.com - Published July 15, 2026 - 12:39 p.m.

Dover Public Library is inviting the public to explore Ohio's Revolutionary War history through a special Fort Laurens display commemorating America's 250th anniversary.

BOLIVAR (WJER) - July 7, 2026

An archaeological dig at Fort Laurens is helping shape the reconstruction of Ohio’s only Revolutionary War fort.

Project Director and lead archaeologist Jonathan Brewster says crews are investigating the base of the original palisade wall, where rotted logs left dark circular stains in the ground. Those marks are being mapped to determine how wide the logs were and how far apart they were spaced, so the rebuilt fort can be as accurate as possible.

Gary Brown- Special to The Canton Repository- July 4, 2026, 5:50 a.m. ET

BOLIVAR – Why would a Revolutionary War fort exist in Ohio?

The state didn't exist as a political entity until after the turn of the 18th Century. And construction on the fort itself wasn't even begun on the banks of the Tuscarawas River near Bolivar until autumn of 1778, more than two years after the July 4, 1776, birth of the independent United States of America.

Kevin Whitlock June 27, 2026, 4:38 p.m. ET

BOLIVAR − Gov. Mike DeWine joined in ceremonies June 27 at Fort Laurens to rededicate the tomb of an unknown soldier from the Revolutionary War.

By Susan Glaser, cleveland.com Published: Sep. 14, 2025, 5:30 a.m.

Northeast Ohio archaeologist Jonathan Brewster is leading a four-year, $3.2 million effort at Fort Laurens, which eventually will result in a reconstruction of most of the fort. The project is part of the state’s broader plans for next year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

BY Darcie Zudell | Martin Zawackey (left) and Doug Angeloni (right) raise the flag at Fort Laurens on Aug. 1, 2025, photo courtesy of Ohio History Connection - July/August 2025

For the first time in nearly two and a half centuries, a flag once again flies over Fort Laurens in the same place it did in 1779.

Andrew Dolph - July 9, 2025 Updated July 10, 2025, 10:35 a.m. ET

Archaeologists from Ohio History Connection along with volunteers continue their work on a plot of land where digging and research is conducted, as part of an improvement project for Fort Laurens outside of Bolivar.

Ohio History Connection - Posted April 21, 2025

From mid-May to the end of September, Jon Brewster, Ohio History Connection’s Fort Laurens Archaeology Project Director, will begin the first phase of a three-year archaeological investigation. If you or someone in your family have ever wanted to “work on a dig”, now’s your chance!