Joseph , St. It underwent tremendous growth after completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal and advent of the railroad. Once a booming manufacturing town located in what became known as the Rust Belt , Fort Wayne's economy in the 21st century is based upon distribution, transportation and logistics; healthcare, professional and business services; leisure and hospitality, and financial services.
Conference of Mayors in This area here on the river confluence was occupied by successive cultures of indigenous peoples for as long as 10, years. Joseph , and St. Marys rivers in the late stages of the Beaver Wars in the s. In , Comte de Frontenac appointed Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes , who began visiting Kekionga in , and would later build the original Fort Miami here in the wilderness and pays d'en Haut of New France around ; Initially, a small trading outpost.
The first census in recorded a population of approximately 40 Frenchmen and 1, Miamians. Increasing tension between France and Great Britain developed over control of the territory. Managing to hold down the fort for only a mere couple of years, the British lost control of it in when various Native American nations rebelled against British rule and retook the fort as part of Pontiac's Rebellion. From this point forward in , no active fort existed at Kekionga for the next three decades until American General Anthony Wayne established Fort Wayne in , following the Battle of Fallen Timbers.
The fort throughout this period was described as a, "Defiant mixture of Indian warriors and lawless renegades of the frontier, such as the Girties. It was also the home of a heterogeneous population of English and French traders and their families, French 'engages", and Miami, Delaware and Shawnee tribes.
In , the British regained influence over the village after Sir William Johnson suggested to the government that the fort be reoccupied. In , Officer Jacques LaSalle moved into the village to conduct strict supervision on behalf of the British government, ensuring that the natives remained loyal to the British, and to check passports with travelers coming down from Fort Detroit.
