How is Fort Wayne in Detroit related to Fort Wayne in IN?

The only relationship between Fort Wayne, Detroit and Fort Wayne,
Indiana is the name. Both forts were named for famed U.S. Army General
Anthony Wayne. Wayne was a veteran of the American Revolution whose
1794 victory at Fallen Timbers is credited with destroying the last
vestiges of British power in the Old Northwest and opening that region
for U.S. settlement.

The City of Fort Wayne, Indiana traces its lineage back to two local
forts (one built in 1794 and the second in 1815). The first was
designed and constructed to withstand a European-style infantry and
artillery assault, while the second was primarily a frontier trading
and constabulary post. The first fort was allowed to fall into disrepair,
but it is from the second, 1815 fort, that Fort Wayne, Indiana took its
name and directly grew. Currently, a replica of this 1815 Fort stands
within city limits and serves as a living-history interpretive center.

For more information on the forts of the region, please see
"The Forts of Anthony Wayne" by David A. Simmons, Historic Fort Wayne,
Incorporated, 1977.

Fort Wayne, Detroit, Michigan was used by the United States Army
between 1841 and 1972. Following initial construction (1841-1853),
the defensive works sat vacant until the US Civil War when it
became a volunteer orientation center. Beginning in 1862, the 83 acre
site was continually developed and rebuilt to accommodate infantry
garrisons, Army MP and Chaplain training schools, quartermaster warehouses
and offices, and was actively used as an induction-center for men and
women serving in America's military for all of the major and minor
conflicts of the late 19th and 20th Centuries.

In 1947, the Army gave the old "star fort" to Detroit and the Historic
Fort Wayne Military Museum ("Detroit's Greatest Military Secret") opened to
great fanfare and positive citizen-response. By 1972, the government
turned the entire "deactivated" site to the Detroit Historical Society for
maintenance and historical interpretation. The Fort Wayne museum thrived
until 1992 when Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young fired the staff and closed
its gates as a cost-cutting measure.

The 100+ year old Fort deteriorated until 2004 when an all volunteer
organization, the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition, took implicit
responsibility for the Fort's maintenance and proper use. Today, via a
partnership with the Detroit Parks and Recreation Department, the Coalition
leads an uphill battle to defend Historic Fort Wayne from the ravages of
time and neglect.

For more information on Fort Wayne, Detroit (or the Coalition),
please see www.historicfortwaynecoalition.org.

JM2