Dunlap’s Station (frontier defensive structure), later referred to as Fort Colerain, was on the east bank of the Great Miami River, and established in early 1790 in the midst of what was also called Little Turtle's War. It served three main functions:

• US expansion into Native territory, recently captured from the British,
• New Jersey based land speculation, and
• a settlement for farmers, their fields & pastures.

The Northwest Territory had been established in 1787, within which Judge Symmes had organized the Miami Company and then advertised the availability of this land. They hired the Irish surveyor John Dunlap who led the party of men, women and children. Dunlap named the settlement after his birthplace of Coleraine, Ireland. It was located next to the 2,000-year-old Colerain Earthwork and one or more sacred Adena Indian Mounds.

They cleared the land, constructed the station, and grew crops outside during the first summer. The blockhouses were built as a refuge from Native attacks, since this was still primarily Shawnee land. While neighboring Indians and settlers had managed to share an earlier Christmas feast, naturally an application was made at Fort Washington for a garrison.

"...A small detachment of United States troops, under the command of Lieutenant Kingsbury, occupied the fort. It consisted of a corporal and eleven men, besides the commandant. Their names were: Taylor, Neef, O'Neal, O'Leary, Lincoln, Grant, Strong, Sowers, Murphy, Abel, McVicar and Wiseman.

Three blockhouses had been constructed for the military garrison, as had a shelter for the hand mill. The ten settler's cabins faced together, a cleared line of fire was begun by removing brush and felled trees, but this was not completed in time. Another vulnerability had been that the lower edges of the roofs were on the outside and had, for example, become a way into the Fort for their dogs. This was reversed, but there were still open spaces between some of the logs. As per Shaumburgh's Plan, all this was linked with 8' high fencing of log pickets, and then extended to the shore, the total enclosed about one acre.

Only one year after it had been settled, Dunlap’s Station was temporarily abandoned following a brutal attack it sustained by Native Americans. John Dunlap and the 11 families living at the Fort moved down river to the settlement at North Bend.

The Attack on Dunlap’s Station – In the winter of 1790-1, an attack was made, with a strong party, amounting, probably, to four or five hundred, on Dunlap’s station, at Colerain.  The block-house at that place was occupied by a small number of United States troops, commanded by Col. Kingsbury, then a subaltern in the army.  The fort was furnished with a piece of artillery, which was an object of terror to the Indians; yet that did not deter them from an attempt to effect their purpose.  The attack was violent, and for some time the station was in imminent danger.

The savages were led by the notorious Simon Girty, and outnumbered the garrison, at least, ten to one.  The works were entirely of wood, and the only obstacle between the assailants and the assailed was a picket of logs, that might have been demolished, with a loss not exceeding, probably, twenty or thirty lives.  The garrison displayed unusual gallantry – they frequently exposed their persons above the pickets, to insult and provoke the assailants; and judging from the facts reported, they conducted with as much folly as bravery.

Col. John Wallace, of Cincinnati, one of the earliest and bravest of the pioneers, and as amiable as he was brave, was in the fort when the attack was made.  Although the works were completely surrounded by the enemy, the colonel volunteered his services to go to Cincinnati for a reinforcement.  The fort stood on the east bank of the Big Miami.  Late in the night he was conveyed across the river in a canoe, and landed on the opposite shore.  Having passed down some miles below the fort, he swam the river, and directed his course for Cincinnati.  On his way down, the next day, he met a body of men from that place and from Columbia, proceeding to Colerain.  They had been informed of the attack, by persons hunting in the neighborhood, who were sufficiently near the fort to hear the firing when it began.

He joined the party, and led them to the station by the same route he had traveled from it; but before they arrived, the Indians had taken their departure.  It was afterwards ascertained that Mr. Abner Hunt, a respectable citizen of New Jersey, who was on a surveying tour in the neighborhood of Colerain, at the time of the attack, was killed before he could reach the fort.  His body was afterwards found, shockingly mangled.

The Indians tied Hunt to a sapling, within sight of the garrison, who distinctly heard his screams, and built a large fire so near as to scorch him, inflicting the most acute pain; then, as his flesh, from the action of the fire and the frequent application of live coals, became less sensible, making deep incisions in his limbs, as if to renew his sensibility of pain; answering his cries for water, to allay the extreme thirst caused by burning, by fresh tortures; and , finally, when exhausted and fainting, death seemed approaching to release the wretched prisoner, terminating his sufferings by applying flaming brands to his naked bowels.

As extracted from Henry Howe’s Historical Collections of Ohio

In 1794, Coleraine was established as a Township. The “e” at the end of Coleraine was dropped sometime later, Americanizing the name Colerain. The villages of Barnesburg, Bevis, Dunlap and Groesbeck were established in the early 1800′s along Blue Rock and Colerain Roads, two of the oldest roads in the area. German immigrants farmed the southwestern portion between 1840 and 1870, heavily influencing the township’s cultural and architectural traditions.

Dedication of Ft. Colerain Playground

August 10, 2021

On Tuesday, August 10, 2021 the ribbon was cut to officially open the Ft. Colerain Playground. This mega playground was built entirely with grant monies to replace Megaland (built in 1980s).

The entrance to Fort Colerain, features two flags perched atop the entrance gate. A contest was held to design a flag for the fort, and Cali Clippard, a 3^rd grader at Colerain Elementary had her design chosen.

But the second flag, a historical US flag that was chosen to represent what would have been in use in 1790s, sparked controversy on social media. The Coleraine Historical Society was contacted and Chris Henson wrote article for Cerkl discussing the history of the US Flag.

Below is posted a copy of the article :

The History of the American Flag           Researched and written by CHS Member Chris Henson

Today the American flag consists of thirteen horizontal stripes; seven red stripes alternating with six white stripes representing the original 13 colonies. The stars represent the 50 states of the Union. The colors of the flag are symbolic as well: Red symbolizes Hardiness and Valor, White symbolizes Purity and Innocence and Blue represents Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.

It will probably never be known who designed our union of stars. Neither Congressional records nor the public and private voluminous correspondence or diaries of the time refer to the creation of the stars.

It has been asked why the stars on our banner are five-pointed while, historically, those on our coins have been six-pointed. While there is a story about Betsy Ross favoring a five pointed star because of its ease in construction… the answer is, that the designers of our early coins followed the English; and the designer of our flag the European custom. In the heraldic language of England, the star has six points; in the heraldry of Holland, France and Germany, the star is five-pointed.

U.S. coins, dollar bills, and even the Great Seal of the United States carry 6 pointed stars.

The current design of the U.S. flag is its 27th; the design of the flag has been modified officially 26 times since 1777.

As for the “Official” U.S. Flag, it was not really settled until 1916 that there would be more red stripes than white ones, and that official act is only binding on the Executive Department and the Military. There are plenty of examples of more white stripes than red ones on old U.S. Flags, although tradition had established the red dominance of the stripes by the mid-19th century.

Between 1818 and 1960, Congress passed several acts that changed the shape, design and arrangement of the flag and allowed for additional stars and stripes to be added to reflect the admission of each new state.

1912 - Executive Order of President Taft (June 24, 1912), the proportions of the flag were established. Also provided for were the arrangement of the stars in six horizontal rows of eight each, a single point of each star to be upward.

1959 - Executive Order of President Eisenhower (January 3, 1959) provided for the arrangement of the stars in seven rows of seven stars each, staggered horizontally and vertically.

"By law, the new 50-star flag will become the official flag of the United States on July 4, 1960, the birthday of the Union. Display of the new flags before that time would be improper. However, it would not be improper to display the 48-star and the 49-star flag after that date; with limited exceptions agencies of the Federal Government will continue to display the 48-star and the 49-star flag so long as they remain in good condition and until existing stocks of unused flags are exhausted. It is appropriate for all citizens to do the same."

All versions of the U.S. flags ever used are still legal, as new versions have been authorized, but old versions have never been unauthorized.