Forks of the Ohio


  • Travel Genus: Sight
  • Sight Category: Site

The point of land where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers meet to form the Ohio is a site of surpassing significance in the story of American expansion westward from the Appalachian Mountains. From the mid-18th century through the early years of the 19th, the Forks of the Ohio was a strategic key to the Ohio Valley and the vast territory drained by the upper Mississippi. Control of this point was a major objective in the struggle for North America, and men of three nations fought and died struggling for the forks. The bustling town of Pittsburgh arose sheltered by the series of fortifications on the point, the first permanent English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. This was a point of entry in the late 18th and early 19th centuries for the waves of settlement pushing into the Ohio and upper Mississippi Valleys, making it an early gateway to the West.

George Washington visited the forks in November 1753, during his mission to Fort Le Boeuf to sound out the intentions of the French and warn them away from the Ohio country. Washington strongly endorsed the forks as the best site to command the rivers. In February 1754 workmen of the Ohio Company under Capt. William Trent began building the first outpost at the forks. In April a force of French and Indians seized the hastily built stockade. They built Fort Duquesne, named in honor of the Governor General of New France. The rival French and British claims to the Ohio country, emphasized by the determination of each power to control the forks, precipitated the final pre-independence struggle, which spread abroad and became the Seven Years' War. - NPS


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Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Zackquill Morgan Discovers plot to seize Fort Pitt Tories conspire to seize Fort Pitt
1753/11/00 George Washington Visitor George Washington visits the Forks during his mission to Fort Le Boeuf.
1754/02/00 Ohio Company Owner Ohio Company begins building the first outpost at the Forks of the Ohio.
1757/06/25 Robert Spotswood English Captain GW writes: Poor Spottswood, and a party that went towards duQuesne, with some Cherokee Indians are, I fear, lost! Baker from the said place, has brought 5 scalps, and a french Officer, prisoner, after killing two others. Forbes Expedition
1757/06/25 George Washington English Commander GW writes: Poor Spottswood, and a party that went towards duQuesne, with some Cherokee Indians are, I fear, lost! Baker from the said place, has brought 5 scalps, and a french Officer, prisoner, after killing two others. Forbes Expedition
1758/11/24 The French destroy Fort Duquesne before the English arrive. Forbes Expedition
1758/11/25 John Armstrong Sr English Colonel Colonel Armstrong, leading 2,700 Pennsylvania provincial troops, captures Fort Duquesne. Forbes Expedition
1766/00/00 Col John Irwin Groom John Irwin, commissary officer with the British at Fort Pitt, marries the commanding officer's daughter
1776/05/15 Jacob Persinger Soldier Captain Matthew Arbuckle departs Fort Pitt with a company of Virginia militia to build a fort at the Great Kanawha
1778/05/12 George Rogers Clark Patriot commander George R Clark and 160 Virginia militiamen float from Redstone PA, down the Monongahela River, pass through the Forks of Ohio and down the Ohio to Corn Island, 12 May 1778 to June 1778. The Campaign in the West

Data »

Particulars for Forks of the Ohio:
Cultural Affiliation American Military
Military Event American Revolutionary War
Structure Type Fortification
Military Event French and Indian War
Area of Significance Historic and non-aboriginal
Criteria Historic Event
Criteria Information Potential
Area of Significance Military
Level of Significance National
Area of Significance Politics-government
Sight Category Site
Owner State



US National Registry of Historic Places Data »

Accurate at time of registration:

PLACE DETAILS
Registry Name:
Registry Address:
Registry Number: 66000643
Resource Type:
Owner: State
Architectural Style: No style listed
Other Certification: Designated National Landmark, National Landmark boundary approved
Nominator Name: National Historic Landmark
CULTURAL DETAILS
Level of Significance: National
Area of Significance: Military, Historic and non-aboriginal, Politics-government
Applicable Criteria: Event, Information Potential
Cultural Affiliation: American,military, American Revolution
Period of Significance: 1750-1799
Significant Year: 1754, 1790
Historic Function: Defense
Historic Sub-Function: Fortification
Current Function: Landscape
Current Sub-Function: Park

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