Fort Lebanon (Schuylkill County (near Auburn), Pennsylvania)
Schuylkill County (near Auburn) · Pennsylvania · French and Indian War
History & Significance
Built in December 1755 under the supervision of Captain Jacob Morgan, Fort Lebanon was a Pennsylvania stockade fort designed to provide protection for settlers' families during the French and Indian War. Located just northeast of present-day Auburn, at the forks of the Schuylkill River, it was intended to guard a gap in the mountains cut by the river that Native Americans used when travelling into Eastern Pennsylvania.
The fort measured 100 feet square with 14-foot-high stockade walls and included a barracks, storeroom, and a 12-foot-square gunpowder magazine with a cellar. Although there was no nearby township, over a hundred families had recently settled in the area and needed protection.
The settlements around the fort were frequently attacked during 1756, and farmers in fields were vulnerable, so Lieutenant Colonel Conrad Weiser ordered Captain Morgan to post sentries during harvest time. In May 1757, Captain Morgan and 30 men were sent to Fort Augusta for three months.
The fort was renamed Fort William in mid-1757, probably in honor of Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. On May 11, Deputy Governor William Denny ordered the troops stationed at Fort William to join British military units advancing on French outposts; by 1896 only a dried-up streambed and a depression from the gunpowder magazine remained visible.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Historical marker and stone monument at French and Indian War stockade site
- Ruins of 1755 defensive structure built to protect colonial settlers
- Rural Schuylkill County location offers historical context of frontier warfare
- Abandoned 1758 after British gained control of conflict
- Minimal physical remains require imagination to visualize original fort
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lebanon
- https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Fort_Lebanon
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=86725
- https://explorepahistory.com/story.php?storyId=1-9-6
- http://www.theamericanpatriotseries.com/uploads/7/1/5/6/7156763/fortifications_on_the_pa_frontier_in_1756.pdf
Other Forts in Pennsylvania
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