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Name:
Fort Pitt Blockhouse
Region:
Pittsburgh Region
County:
Allegheny
Marker Location:
Point State Park, Pittsburgh
Dedication Date:
May 8, 1959
Behind the Marker
A redoubt or blockhouse was a small defensive work commonly built by eighteenth-century military engineers. This structure, the only surviving remnant of Fort Pitt and the oldest authenticated structure in western Pennsylvania, was also known as Bouquet's Blockhouse. It was built in 1764, after Pontiac's Rebellion, to serve as a powder magazine (for the storage of gunpowder) capable of resisting enemy assault and the flooding that periodically swamped the rest of Fort Pitt.
Among the architectural highlights of this structure are its "loopholes", the horizontal slots built into its sides for firing muskets, and its pentagonal shape, which mimicked in miniature the design of Fort Pitt.
The British ceased authorizing new construction at Fort Pitt after 1764. From then until the post's abandonment in 1772, only absolutely necessary maintenance was done, and it functioned chiefly as a market for the fur trade with the Indians.
This blockhouse is the only surviving structure of Fort Pitt. The drawing shows...
Among the architectural highlights of this structure are its "loopholes", the horizontal slots built into its sides for firing muskets, and its pentagonal shape, which mimicked in miniature the design of Fort Pitt.
The British ceased authorizing new construction at Fort Pitt after 1764. From then until the post's abandonment in 1772, only absolutely necessary maintenance was done, and it functioned chiefly as a market for the fur trade with the Indians.
Beyond the Marker
