1812 Living History
2025 Living History Summer Series
The Sackets Harbor Battlefield will feature a series of free Living History events throughout the summer, beginning in May and continuing through New York State’s Path Through History Day on Saturday, Oct 11.
See the past come to life, as re-enactors portray life during the War of 1812, and discover the stories of those who braved New York State’s northern frontier 200 years ago in war and peace. Along with re-enactment events, the Battlefield hosts several living history days highlighting other important eras in American history and a number of events featuring the traditional skills and activities of the time.
This series is sponsored by the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site’s Battlefield Alliance. For more information on any of the events, please contact Constance Barone at 315-646-3634 or visit the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site website.
The list of events is below, and we’ll be adding more dates and information to this page as they’re announced. (Unless otherwise noted, all the events take place at the Battlefield, located at 504 West Main Street, in the Village of Sackets Harbor.)
2025 Living History & Special Events
- All Season: “Reflections of the Past” Photography Exhibition by local Photographer and Poet Daniel Kantak in the Red Barn off Hill St featuring a number of the artist’s photos from the 2024 North American War of 1812 Grand Tactical
- Friday, May 16: Patriot Pride Day when students from Sackets Harbor Central School assist the Battlefield staff in freshening up the historic site’s grounds
- Saturday, May 17: Opening Day for the 2025 season
- Saturday, June 7: National Trails Day with a scavenger hunt and trail walk
- Saturday, June 14: I Love NY Path Through History Day with a StoryWalk around the site’s Memorial Tree Grove, sponsored by Hay Memorial Library
- Saturday, June 14: NYS Parks “Get Together and Get Outdoors” Day
- Tuesday, June 24: “The Unfinished Revolution: Living Up to the Promise of Democracy—Part 1,” program by Ray Peterson, retired Jefferson Community College instructor at the (former) Union Hotel
- Saturday, June 28 through Wednesday, July 9: “The American Revolution Experience” traveling exhibition, a collaborative project of the American Battlefield Trust and the Daughters of the American Revolution, at the (former) Union Hotel
- Friday, July 4: Flutes on the Fourth musical program at the site’s Navy Yard
- Friday, July 4: “The Bosun’s Call” Revolutionary War-era sea chanty singers
- Friday, July 4, at 9:30 pm, enjoy the Village’s annual Fireworks Show
- Saturday, July 5: “The Bosun’s Call” Revolutionary War-era sea chanty singers
- Saturday, July 19: Can-Am Festival Fort Drum Static and Aerial Display
- Friday, July 25: Demonstrations throughout the day on “A Revolutionary War Blacksmith: Keeping the Military Prepared” at the site’s Memorial Grove
- Saturday, July 26: Demonstrations throughout the day on “A Revolutionary War Blacksmith: Keeping the Military Prepared” at the site’s Memorial Grove
- Friday, Aug 1: “Exploring Native Cultures: Haudenosaunee Music, Dance, and Traditions” presentation by Jordan Smith, of the Mohawk Nation’s Bear Clan, and Kehala Smith, of the Tuscarora Nation’s Turtle Clan” at the picnic pavilion
- Saturday, Aug 2: “Haudenosaunee Music and Dance: Sharing Cultural Traditions” presentation by Jordan Smith, of the Mohawk Nation’s Bear Clan, and Kehala Smith, of the Tuscarora Nation’s Turtle Clan” at the picnic pavilion
- Saturday, Aug 9: Civil War Saturday, from 10 am to 3 pm, at the Historic Site’s Navy Yard
- Wednesday, Sept 17: “The Unfinished Revolution: Living Up to the Promise of Democracy—Part 2,” program by Ray Peterson, retired Jefferson Community College instructor at the (former) Union Hotel
- Wednesday, Sept 24: “Revolutionary War Spies and Intrigue” presentation by Josh Canale, an instructor at JCC, at the (former) Union Hotel
- Saturday, Oct 11: I Love NY Path Through History Day StoryWalk around the Memorial Tree Grove, sponsored by Hay Memorial Library