Hello Choppy,
thanks for teaching me some German, smile. I had never heard of "das Ort" but it exists, _however_ only as a specific term used in mining.
www.duden.de knows both:
"Ort, der, auch: das; -[e]s, -e [eigtl. = Spitze, vgl. →Ort] (veraltet): Ahle, Pfriem.
Ort, das; -[e]s, Örter (Bergmannsspr.): [das Ende einer] →Strecke: meist in der Wendung vor ...
Ort, der; -[e]s, -e u. Örter [mhd., ahd. ort = Spitze; äußerstes Ende, auch: Gegend, ..."
Usually, a place, or also a village, would be "der Ort", plural Orte
Hope this helped,
regards,
Otto