Fort Pitt Museum is an indoor/outdoor museum that is administered by the Senator John Heinz History Center in downtown

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Allegheny County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in the United States. It is at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Monongahela and

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...

s, where the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

is formed. Fort Pitt Museum is surrounded by Point State Park, a Pennsylvania state park named for the geographically and historically significant point that is between the rivers. This piece of land was key to controlling the upper reaches of the Ohio River Valley and western Pennsylvania, before, during and after the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

as well as the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. The

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

is in a recreated bastion of Fort Pitt, which was originally built in 1758 by the British. An outline of

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...

is nearby. The historical focus of the museum is the role that Fort Pitt played during the French and Indian War. The museum also features detailed information on Fort Pitt's role during the American Revolution, the

Whiskey Rebellion The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

and the founding of Pittsburgh. The museum was established and operated by the

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, responsible for the collection, conservation, and interpretation of Pennsylvania's heritage. The commission cares for hist ...

until its closure in August 2009 from state budget cuts. The Heinz Center took over the operation of the museum and reopened it in April 2010.

History

Fort Pitt was a

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

in what is now the city of

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, state's second-most populous county, after Philadelp ...

. The fort was built in 1758 during the

, next to the site of

. The French built Fort Duquesne at the beginning of that war, and it became a focal point due to its strategic river location. The

Braddock expedition The Braddock Expedition, also known as Braddock's Campaign or Braddock's Defeat, was a British Empire, British military expedition which attempted to capture Fort Duquesne from the French colonial empire, French in 1755 during the French and Ind ...

, a 1755 attempt to take Fort Duquesne, met with a bloody repulse at the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...

. The French garrison viciously mauled an attacking British regiment in September 1758, but abandoned and destroyed the fort at the approach of General John Forbes's expedition in November. The Forbes expedition was successful where the Braddock expedition had failed because of the Treaty of Easton, in which area American Indians agreed to abandon their alliance with the French. American Indians— primarily Delawares and

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

s— made this agreement with the understanding that the British military would leave the area after the war. The Indians wanted a trading post on the spot, but they did not want a British army garrison. The British, however, built a new fort on the site and named it Fort Pitt, after

William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pitt the Elder" to distinguish him from his son ...

. As a result, in 1763 local Delawares and Shawnees took part in

Pontiac's Rebellion Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a confederation of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region follow ...

, an effort to drive the British out of their territory. The Indians' siege of Fort Pitt began on June 22, 1763, but the fort was too strong to be taken by force. In negotiations during the siege, the commander of Fort Pitt gave two Delaware emissaries blankets that had been exposed to smallpox, in hopes of infecting the surrounding Indians and ending the siege. The effectiveness of this attempt is unclear. Outbreaks of smallpox had plagued Native Americans for years before, during and after the Fort Pitt attempt, killing much of the Native American population. On August 1, 1763, most of the Indians broke off the siege in order to intercept an approaching force under Colonel Henry Bouquet, resulting in the Battle of Bushy Run. Bouquet fought off the attack and relieved Fort Pitt on August 10. After Pontiac's War, Fort Pitt was no longer necessary to the British Crown and was abandoned to the locals in 1772. At that time, the Pittsburgh area was claimed by both Virginia and Pennsylvania, and a power struggle for the region commenced. Virginians took control of Fort Pitt, and for a brief while in the 1770s it was called Fort Dunmore, in honour of Virginia's Governor Lord Dunmore. The fort served as a staging ground in Dunmore's War of 1774. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, Fort Pitt served as a headquarters for the western theatre of the war. Fort Pitt fell into disrepair once again in the years following the Revolution. It was abandoned in 1792 when Fort Fayette was built to replace it. Residents of the growing Pittsburgh used the remnants of the fort to build permanent housing for themselves. A small brick building called the Blockhouse—actually a type of outbuilding known as a

redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...

—remains in Point State Park, the only intact remnant of Fort Pitt. It was erected in 1764 and is believed to be the oldest building, not only in Pittsburgh but in western Pennsylvania. Used for many years as a home, the blockhouse was purchased and has been preserved for many years by the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

, who make it open to the public. Part of the foundations of Fort Pitt have been excavated and some of the fort has been rebuilt, though, giving visitors to Point State Park a sense of the size of the fort. In this rebuilt section the Monongahela Bastion houses the Fort Pitt Museum. Fort Pitt Foundry was an important armaments manufacturing centre for the Federal government during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, under the charge of William Metcalf.

Museum

Michael DeBerardinis, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, announced a $25 million plan to renovate Point State Park and parts of the Fort Pitt Museum on October 11, 2006. The plans call for improving the green spaces within the park, expanding recreational opportunities, preserving historical installations and updating outdated amenities. The project was originally scheduled to be complete within four years, with the majority of the work to be completed in time for Pittsburgh's 250th-anniversary celebration in 2008. Sections of the park have fallen into disuse since it was established in 1974. The

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

have used the trenches surrounding the foundations of the remains of Fort Pitt as a temporary shelter for years.

Graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

on the structures of the park has become a major problem. Sections of the park are littered with fence posts, cut logs, plastic drums, and rolled up snow drift fencing. The walkways have become cracked and are beginning to fall apart. The goal of the restoration project is to re-establish the park as a recreational destination. Plans for improving the park are well underway. They include installing new pumps and pipes in the fountain, establishing a seating area around the fountain and a wading area for children, restoring the river walk with steps that lead into the river, building kiosks for information and concessions, renovating the restrooms, renovating the

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a boat used to provide public transport, public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an Urban area, urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a simil ...

landings and surrounding docks, and installing wireless

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

access hubs. Currently (April 2011) the waterfront area is closed to pedestrians as the stone walkways and wharf area are being resurfaced. They are to be reopened during the summer, 2011. These plans were not put into place without some controversy. On January 25, 2007, thirteen members of two different locals

labour union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s were arrested for blocking access by contractors to the work sites at the remnants of Fort Pitt. The labour union protested the use of four non-labour workers by the contractor responsible for completing the work at Point State Park

On August 14, 2009, the state closed the museum and three other PHMC museums indefinitely due to a lack of funding as part of an ongoing budget crisis. Management of the museum is supposed to be taken over by Senator John Heinz Regional History Center once the state budget is passed. The Senator John Heinz History Center reopened the Fort Pitt Museum on Saturday, April 17, 2010. The History Center's museum system also includes a Smithsonian-affiliated, seven-story museum in Pittsburgh's Strip District; Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, the oldest site of human habitation in North America located in Avella, Pa.; and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, a two-floor museum-within-a-museum at the History Center. Currently, the Fort Pitt Museum is open to visitation seven days a week from 10am - 5pm. The museum is closed only on major holidays (Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving and Easter)

References

Notes Sources *O'Meara, Walter. ''Guns at the Forks''. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1965. . * Charles Morse Stotz, Stotz, Charles Morse. ''Outposts Of The War For Empire: The French And English In Western Pennsylvania: Their Armies, Their Forts, Their People 1749-1764.'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005. . *Durant, Samuel W., plate IV, "History of Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories", Philadelphia, L. H. Everts, 1876. * * * * *

External links

Fort Pitt Museum official site360° panorama of the Fort Pitt Museum
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania American Revolutionary War sites Downtown Pittsburgh

Museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

Pitt Fort Pitt Fort Pitt Museums established in 1969 National Register of Historic Places in Pittsburgh 1969 establishments in Pennsylvania Replica buildings Historic district contributing properties in Pittsburgh