Upstate Historic Sites Mark Nation's 234th Birthday

Historic sites across upstate New York are marking the nation's 234th birthday with canon and musket firings, fife and drum parades and other events.

At Saratoga National Historical Park in Stillwater, a citizenship ceremony will be held Sunday morning, followed in the afternoon by readings of the Declaration of Independence.

The Battles of Saratoga won by the Continental Army and militia more than a year after the 13 original colonies declared their independence played a key role in the American victory over the British in the Revolutionary War.

In the Hudson Valley, the New Windsor Cantonment and the nearby Knox's Headquarters state historic sites are holding weekend events with Revolutionary War themes today and tomorrow.

At Old Fort Niagara, the annual French and Indian War encampment is under way this weekend. Hundreds of re-enactors from across the U.S. and Canada will stage a mock battle depicting the 1759 British siege of the French-held fort.