STEUBENVILLE — Area residents can take a walk back in time Friday at Historic Fort Steuben, where members of the Brigade of the American Revolution will offer visitors a taste of what life was like during the American Revolution and the Colonial period.

The brigade, a nonprofit living history organization, is an all-volunteer group that re-enacts what life was like for soldiers and civilians during the American Revolution. Founded in 1962, it now has more than a thousand members nationwide.

And with communities nationwide–including Steubenville and Jefferson County–gearing up for America’s 250th birthday, Paul Zuros, executive director of Historic Fort Steuben, said it’s particularly impactful.

“It’s important for Steubenville because this is our history,” he said. “Steubenville was founded in 1797, but before that we had Fort Steuben, set up in 1786, and the revolution had just ended (three years earlier.) It’s coming right off the tails of that in history: The soldiers who were here, especially a lot of the officers, were veterans of American Revolution — the soldiers who were here in the early days lived this life, they lived this experience, right after the revolution. So what the brigade will be portraying is very similar to what (the soldiers) experienced.”

Zuros said the re-enactment “is a pretty big deal.”

“They do such a great job portraying what life was like in the late 18th century, around the time of the American Revolution,” he said. “It’s neat to see the different ways they portray life in that time period — they talk about food, the different clothing of that time period, military drills and have games … to show what life was like for soldiers in that time period. There was a lot of work, a lot of danger.”

Zuros said the brigade will only be in town for one day this year.

“These guys are volunteers, they’ve got their own organization, and they come from all over the place,” he said. “One day is all they could do for us this year.”

But what a day it will be, he added.

“It’s important for people to see how soldiers during the American Revolution experienced life,” Zuros said. “We’re coming up to 250th anniversary of our nation and the 250th anniversary of our independence from Great Britain. So, it’s a good time for people to come and see what their life was like, how they lived, the hardships they went through, what their day-to-day life was like.”

Zuros said it’s “the foundation of our nation, the American Revolution, and to be able to see it firsthand with this brigade is just an incredible opportunity.”

“The brigade sets up right in the fort, they’ll have stations set up that will explain different aspects of life during the revolution … the clothing, they’ll have someone spinning wool, a place to learn to march and drill and a hospital set up to show 18th century medicine was like,” he said. “(Visitors) will move from station-to-station to learn about it.”

Admission to the fort will be free that day, “so anyone who wants to come and visit will be able to do that.” The fort will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“It’s the foundation of our nation, the American Revolution,” Zuros said. “To be able to see it firsthand with this brigade is just an incredible opportunity.

“We are excited to offer this opportunity to school children, but really for visitors of all ages and backgrounds,” he added. “This history should be shared and accessible to everyone, young and old. We are blessed to have this opportunity to learn about an important time period in our history.”