Fort Edward is a village in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village population was 3,375 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from the younger brother of King George III, Edward Augustus, Duke of York and Albany.
Fort Edward or "The Fort" has been strategically important during its long and illustrious history, for it commands the Hudson River and Champlain River valleys. The Hudson River at this point north is no longer a navigable waterway because of waterfalls and rapids. Historically travelers through this area would leave the Hudson at Fort Edward and carry their canoes overland to Lake George. The Indians called the area around Fort Edward Wahcoloosencoochaleva, which means "The Great Carrying Place." Fort Edward's location was the most northerly point on the Hudson River for the early Dutch.
As early as 1709 during Queen Anne's War, a stockade (Fort Nicholson) was erected in the area due to its strategic importance. Fort Nicholson was garrisoned by 450 men, including seven companies of “regulars in scarlet uniform from old England.” A crude stockade was built to protect storehouses and log huts. It was later abandoned and then re-constructed as Fort Lydus, the trading post of John Lydius, a fur trader from Albany. In 1731, the fortification was reconstructed as Fort Lyman. Sir William Johnson renamed it Fort Edward during the French and Indian War in 1755. Also at this time, a large military complex was constructed on nearby Roger's Island. Today this site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NHRP). Another smaller fort was constructed on the opposite shore of the Hudson River.
Post Colonial history
The completion of the Champlain Canal in 1823 linked the area to the north and south and replaced a smaller canal that by-passed local rapids.
The village of Fort Edward incorporated in 1849, setting itself off from the town of Fort Edward.