Historical Markers
Marker Details
Name: Fort Pitt Blockhouse
Region: Pittsburgh Region
County Location: Allegheny
Marker Location: Point State Park, Pittsburgh
Dedication Date: May 08, 1959
Region: Pittsburgh Region
County Location: Allegheny
Marker Location: Point State Park, Pittsburgh
Dedication Date: May 08, 1959
Marker Text
One of Fort Pitt's outworks, this blockhouse or redoubt stood near the western bastions and is the only surviving structure of that fort. Built in 1764 by Col. Henry Bouquet.
One of Fort Pitt's outworks, this blockhouse or redoubt stood near the western bastions and is the only surviving structure of that fort. Built in 1764 by Col. Henry Bouquet.
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.
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.
This blockhouse is the only surviving structure of Fort Pitt. The drawing shows...
Credit: Courtesy the Pennsylvania State Archives
Credit: Courtesy the Pennsylvania State Archives
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
Charles M. Stotz, Outposts of the War for Empire: The French and English in Western
Louis M. Waddell and Bruce D. Bomberger, The French and Indian War in Pennsylvania:
Charles M. Stotz, Outposts of the War for Empire: The French and English in Western
Pennsylvania: Their Armies, Their Forts, Their People, 1749-1764 (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985).
Louis M. Waddell and Bruce D. Bomberger, The French and Indian War in Pennsylvania:
Fortification and Struggle During the War for Empire (Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1996).
