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STATE HISTORICAL MARKERS
~ VENANGO COUNTY ~

FORT FRANKLIN -Marker was erected March 20, 1947, at the corner of 13th St. and Franklin Ave. in Franklin.

Site just west of here. Built in 1787 by U. S. troops under Captain Heart. First American fort in the region and base for protecting northwestern Pennsylvania's early settlements.

Captain Jonathan Heart of Connecticut, searching for a suitable site for a fort along the Allegheny River, came upon this area and reported to Major General Josiah Harmar, "I can find no situation by any means suitable for erecting a Fortification except at this Place, which is on the south Bank of French Creek & about half a mile from its junction with the Aleganey" - adding that the spot was situated, with good timber, and hills at a suitable distance so they could not be a vantage point for shooting down on the fort.

Fort Franklin was the third fortification in Franklin and was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. One of the pioneers who helped to erect this fort was George Power, the first permanent settler of the area. Fort Franklin was the nucleus for early settlement and was a determining factor in the final layout of the town.

Fort Franklin was a large structure. The center blockhouse was 25 feet square, three stories high - the first for officers' quarters, a six-pounder cannon mounted in the second, and the third as a watchtower. Triangular bastions were shaped like arrowheads in each corner of the fort. A bakehouse, smokehouse, blacksmith shop, kitchens and a hospital with a two-story blockhouse was located inside the picket stockade. By 1796, it was decided to abandon the fort.

Donated by Penny Haylett Minnick
pictures Penny Haylett Minnick