The Barryville based non-profit history education group, The Delaware Company, has announced that it will be officially re-opening Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History in Narrowsburg for the 2026 season on Saturday, May 16.

Fort Delaware, founded by former Sullivan County Historian James W. Burbank in 1957, and currently owned by Sullivan County, is located on the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway at 6615 Route 97. The Delaware Company has operated the Fort under a contractual agreement with the County since 2021.

Fort Delaware will be open on Saturdays and Sundays in May and June, and September and October. It is open Thursday thru Sunday in July and August, and is also open Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day. The Fort is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the last admission at 4 p.m.

With America celebrating its 250th birthday this year, the Fort will be spearheading the commemoration in the Upper Delaware River Valley by offering a series of special events, including its annual Patriots & Loyalists Weekend, which this year will take place at the Minisink Battleground Park in nearby Barryville on July 17-19. In addition to the usual reading of the Declaration of Independence and a Loyalist response, and a number of other activities, including exhibits and displays, an encampment and demonstrations, music and food, Patriots & Loyalists Weekend this year will include the commemoration of the Battle of Minisink on Saturday, July 18.

“Our annual reading of the Declaration of Independence takes on added significance this year because of the Semiquincentennial,” Debra Conway, the Executive Director of The Delaware Company, said in announcing that the event will take place at the Minisink Battleground instead of Fort Delaware. “We think it makes sense to incorporate it into what we hope will be a grand weekend at the Battleground.”

The expanded Patriots & Loyalists Weekend this year is made possible by a number of generous sponsors, including The Delaware Company, Bold Gold Media, and the Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association.

A complete schedule of this season’s programs at Fort Delaware will be published soon on The Delaware Company’s website at www.thedelawarecompany.org.