BIG POOL - Rich, green pine trees dot the sides of the road that lead to a fort with four 120-foot-long walls.
Each of those huge limestone walls forms an arrow point at the end.
Two renovated buildings make up the east and west barracks in the fort; the east one is the museum.
Gov. Horatio Sharpe ordered the fort built in 1754 to protect the western front in the French and Indian War. In 1763, American Indian Chief Pontiac staged a rebellion, and the fort provided shelter for civilians and other militia.
The fort was a prisoner-of-war camp during the Revolutionary War, was the scene of skirmishes during the Civil War and was a farm owned by freed slaves in the late 1800s.
With the C&O Canal in its backyard, the park offers fishing, campgrounds, hiking trails and boating. The park does not rent boats.
