You may not know it, but Niles, Michigan, is home to history that dates back to years before the United States even became a nation.

The city of Niles is the site of the remains of the Fort of St. Joseph, an important colonial outpost along the St. Joseph River in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The fort is also the site of many successful archaeological digs.

On Sunday, actors, friends of "Support the Fort," and the University of Western Michigan teamed up to look at this year's findings.

"It's good entertainment. You can get more history than you can by just reading books. We basically live it -- that's why we call it 'living history.' It's a little more interesting," says Larry Horrigan, president of Support the Fort.

"This is like holy ground for archaeologists and historians; so much history took place here. Traveling down this river… I wish the river could talk to me about who was here," remarked David Schmid, who spent the day portraying a French soldier.

Also on Sunday, the Michigan Humanities Council announced that the Fort of St. Joseph will be awarded federal funding -- something that researchers and historians are very happy about.