Fort Egbert (lower left) is located a short walk from the village of Eagle (right). In the background are Eagle Bluff and the Yukon River.
	Visitors drive by the water wagon shed (left) and  quartermaster storehouse (right), which today contains exhibits of fort history.
	In the mule barn, the mules' names still hang above some of the stalls.
	The first floor of the noncommissioned officers' quarters was recently renovated. The work included installing replicas of the wallpaper that once graced its walls.

Its soldiers long gone, its telegraph link to the nation now replaced by high-speed Internet, Fort Egbert is today a peaceful place for a stroll through Alaska's past. The ruins of the fort hospital are overgrown with forest, and the former parade ground now serves as a strawberry patch and grass airstrip. Yet much of the fort’s fascinating history remains preserved in the five buildings that have survived more than a century of Interior Alaska’s harsh winters.

 

You can explore the area on your own or take advantage of the Eagle Historical Society and Museums’ daily walking tour of the city, museum, and fort. The two- to three-hour guided tour starts at the Courthouse once daily at 9 a.m. from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For more information call the Eagle Historical Society and Museums at 907-547-2325. 

 

For those spending the night in Eagle, BLM’s 18-site Eagle Campground is a short walk from town and fort. 

The quartermaster storehouse, used to store a six-month food supply for the fort, is the oldest of the remaining structures and dates back to 1899. It now contains exhibits. 

 

The largest building, the mule barn, housed 53 animals and was used until 1911. Kennels were added to the south side of the structure for the sled dogs that pulled equipment and supplies for soldiers at the fort. Today the mule barn's  numerous exhibits of life at the fort include a blacksmith area and old wagons.  

 

The granary was used to store precious grains shipped to Eagle on steamboats.

 

The fort’s fire system and water supply wagons were housed in the water wagon shed. The water wagon that made daily deliveries to the officers quarters, kitchens, and barracks could be put on sled runners in the winter.

 

The noncommissioned officers' quarters, one of three such buildings constructed at the fort, was built in 1900  at a cost of $1,786.30. It once provided living quarters for the quartermaster and hospital steward.