Allegheny Arsenal, Part IV

Before reading this entry, you may want to read, Allegheny Arsenal, Parts I, II, and III, if you haven't already.

Why Pittsburgh?

With the United States now stretching its borders from one ocean to the other, it is easy to forget that at one time Pittsburgh was on the western border of the United States. In Pittsburgh two rivers (the Monongahela and Allegheny) meet at “The Point” to form another major river (the Ohio) which then flows into another you may have heard mentioned in passing, the Mississippi River.

Both the British and the French fought for control of the Pittsburgh area in the 1750s. The importance of these waterways cannot be underestimated.

A wealth of information is available on a Pittsburgh history blog including this:

“In 1753, George Washington, under orders from Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, explored the land at the confluence and wrote, ‘I spent some time in viewing the rivers and the land in the fork, which I think extremely well suited for a fort, as it has absolute command of both rivers. It has well timbered land all around and is very convenient for building.’

In 1754, a fort was constructed by a few Virginia Militia under the command of Captain Trent representing the Ohio Company and the first white settlement on the site of modern day Pittsburgh was established.

Although by 1790 there were nearly 130 families in Pittsburgh occupying 36 log houses, one stone house, one frame house and five stores, the area didn’t see any real growth until the end of Indian hostilities in 1795. By the time the city was incorporated in 1816, the population exceeded 6,000 and the village by the rivers was fast becoming the hub of travel and trade.”

According to Powers and Wuarczyk, as a site for an arsenal, "Pittsburgh was in close proximity to war fronts at Lake Erie and Canada. Pittsburgh was also a good location to supply troops for the ongoing conflict with Native Americans in the Ohio River watershed area.”

As part of the Lawrenceville Historical Society’s 2011 Lecture Series, Tom Powers and James Wudarczyk will give a PowerPoint presentation on their research for this newsletter on September 15. I plan to be there.