Be an Active Part of History this Holiday Season

Fort Scott Kan. – Friday, November 1, 2019, tickets for Fort Scott National Historic Site’s 38th Annual Candlelight Tour go on sale. Tickets are available by calling the Fort at 620-223-0310 (with a major credit card) or by stopping by the Visitor Center on Old Fort Blvd. They are $8.00 per person and non-refundable, children 5 and under are free. It is recommended that you get your tickets early for your choice of tour times as this event frequently sells out.

The 38th Annual Candlelight Tour is December 6 and 7, 2019. Tours on December 6 will begin at 6:30 pm and leave every 15 minutes until 9 pm. On Saturday, December 7, the tours will start at 5 pm with the final tour leaving at 8:45 pm. Please arrive 10 minutes early to allow time to park, present/pick up your ticket, and get oriented. Participants are advised to please dress for the weather and the terrain, as they will be outside and on sidewalks.

1,000 candle lanterns illuminate the site and 100 reenactors (including you) bring the fort to life. “This year’s tour will include the audience in the tour stops. It will feature six stops around the site beginning with enlistment and ending with reassignment or release from service,” said Betty Boyko, Superintendent, Fort Scott National Historic Site. “We encourage everyone to dress up (in modern or period clothes) and step back in time.” Take the tour under the identity of one of our own Fort Scott soldiers. Enlist in the U.S. Army stationed at the Fort; learn about their life on the frontier; the ups and downs of payday; celebrate the holidays 1840’s style; find out how much the officer’s wives appreciate all of your hard work; and after an memorable career, receive your discharge or reassignment stamp.  Keep your enlistment card to remember your journey through time.

Fort Scott was an active military post from 1842-1853, which was a time of rapid growth and change in the country.  As Fort Scott was being built, the nation grew west, expanding all the way to the Pacific Ocean. With this growth, Fort Scott changed, the mission of its soldiers changed, their experience changed, the environment changed, and the nation changed. Soldiers at Fort Scott lived their lives to the fullest despite the constant change.

From November 1-March 31, Fort Scott National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service, will be open for its winter hours of operation.  The site exhibit areas and visitor center are open daily from 8:30 am-4:30 pm. The park grounds are open daily from ½ hour before sunrise until ½ hour after sunset. For more information about Fort Scott National Historic Site programs or become involved in the candlelight tour, or other activities, please contact the park at 620-223-0310 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/fosc.

Fort Scott National Historic Site’s Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) is looking for clues during the Fort’s Junior Ranger Day Saturday, July 20, and ‘Texting and Twitter: 1840s style’ 10 am until 3 pm Saturday, July 27. Both Saturdays are for all ages.

Get clues from dragoon or infantry soldiers, a laundress, or other people from the fort as you search the grounds. The interactive Junior Ranger Day programs are separated into age brackets of 3-5, 5-7, and 8-up. We also encourage the young at heart, and older ‘Jr. Rangers’, to try our new ‘Fort Inspector’ program. This program will keep you on your toes and test your I-Spy skills as you search for items throughout the fort.  Upon completion of your Junior Ranger Program, you will be sworn in as an official Junior Ranger and awarded a Junior Ranger badge. This program runs continuously all day.

‘Texting and Twitter: 1840s style’ will give you clues into historic methods of communication including quill pen and ink well letter writing, deciphering messages in Morse code, and composing a ‘tweet’ for a historic news story.

All programs are free and open to the public. To participate, stop by the visitor center.

The site exhibit areas and visitor center are open daily from 8 am -5 pm daily. The park grounds are open daily from ½ hour before sunrise until ½ hour after sunset.

Celebrate Independence Day with the Sights and Sounds of 1840’s Military Fireworks

FORT SCOTT, Kan. – Celebrate the anniversary of American independence with the sounds of cannon fire and homemade ice cream while honoring the service men and women who have defended the United States for the past 243 years. Thursday, July 4, Fort Scott National Historic Site will have artillery demonstrations twice each hour from noon until 4 pm. At 3:30 pm, we will pay tribute to the nation’s founders followed by a flag retreat at 4 pm.

The celebration continues on July 6 and 7 as you discover the rich history and significance of the fort. Experience frontier cooking demonstrations, play period games, see mock artillery and weapons drills, and explore the prairie grass as the fort comes to life before your eyes.

Thursday, July 4

12:00 pm – Artillery Demonstration

12:30 pm – Homemade Ice Cream

1:00 pm – Artillery Demonstration

2:00 pm – Artillery Demonstration

3:00 pm – Artillery Demonstration

3:30 pm – Tribute to the Founders

4:00 pm – Artillery Salute and Flag Retreat

Saturday, July 6

10:00 am – Prairie Walk

12:00 pm – An Arm and a Leg: 1840s Medical Program

1:00-3:00 pm – Let the Games Begin-Historic Games station

3:00-4:30 pm – Going Green: Historic Gardens station

4:00 – Flag Retreat

Sunday July 7

11:00 am – Guided Tour of the Fort

12:00 pm – A Hearty Grip

1:00 pm – Guided Tour

2:00 pm – Democracy Run Wild

3:00 pm – The Price of War

4:00 pm – Flag Retreat

Visitors and local residents are reminded that fireworks are not permitted on the grounds of Fort Scott National Historic Site.

To find out more or become involved in activities at the Fort, please contact the park at 620-223-0310.

www.nps.gov/fosc

Fort Scott National Historic Site is a fee free park that offers a glimpse into the growth of our nation. A walk through the fort reveals the significant role it played in the opening of the West, as well as, the Civil War and the strife in the State of Kansas that preceded it. For more information about Fort Scott National Historic Site, please call the park at 620-223-0310, visit us at www.nps.gov/fosc, on Facebook www.facebook.com/FortScottNPS, Twitter www.twitter.com/FortScottNPS, and Instagram www.instagram.com/fortscottnps

www.nps.gov

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 419 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.

Update: This is an all weather event. Programs will move indoors in case of inclement weather.

Thousands of American flags will be displayed in a Field of Honor at Fort Scott National Historic Site, in what is called Symbols of Sacrifice.

Fort Scott National Historic Site will be hosting “Symbols of Sacrifice” this Memorial Day Weekend, Friday, May 24 through, Monday, May 27.

We encourage community members and organizations to join the park in placing the flags Friday morning beginning at 9 am.

There will be guided tours daily at 11 am and 1 pm.

All weekend at 2:30 pm, we will have special programs.

Saturday will discuss the Mexican American War;

Sunday, the Civil War -A Most Diverse Army;

and Monday, a special Memorial Day program followed by a Moment of Silence at 3 pm.

Saturday, May 25 at 4 pm, Ralph Carlson and Arnold Schofield will present “The Vacant Chair” followed by musicians performing a special concert of patriotic music.

“The approximately 7,000 flags commemorate the ultimate sacrifice members of the United States Armed Forces have made to keep this country free,” said Betty Boyko, Superintendent, Fort Scott National Historic Site.

To find out more and to become involved, please contact the park at 620-223-0310.