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Fort Presque Isle (also Fort de la Presqui’le) was a fort built by French soldiers in 1753 along Presque Isle Bay
Presque Isle Bay

Presque Isle Bay is a natural Headlands and bays located off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. Its embayment is about in length, about across at its widest point, and an average depth of about ....
 at present-day Erie
Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is an industrial city on the shore of Lake Erie in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Named for the lake and the Erie tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth largest city , with a population of 104,000....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
. The fort was part of a line that included Fort Le Boeuf
Fort Le Boeuf

Fort Le Boeuf was a fort established by the French colonization of the Americas in 1753 on a fork of French Creek , near present-day Waterford, Pennsylvania, in northwest Pennsylvania....
, Fort Machault
Fort Machault

Fort Machault was a fort built by the French colonization of the Americas in 1754 near the confluence of French Creek with the Allegheny River, at present-day Franklin, Pennsylvania, in northwest Pennsylvania....
, and Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne

Fort Duquesne was a fort French colonization of the Americas in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania....
.

The fort was built as part of the French military occupation of the Ohio Country
Ohio Country

The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie....
; rival claims to the area by the British led to the French and Indian War
French and Indian War

The French and Indian War was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War, known in Canada as the War of the Conquest. The name refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various Indigenous peoples of the Americas forces allied with them....
. After the 1759 British victory at the Battle of Fort Niagara
Battle of Fort Niagara

The Battle of Fort Niagara was one of the final battles in the French and Indian War, the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War. The British attack on Fort Niagara was part of a campaign to remove French fortifications from the Great Lakes and Ohio Country regions, allowing for a western invasion of New France in conjunction with Jam...
, the French burned the fort and retreated from the area. The British built a new Fort Presque Isle, which was captured by American Indians
Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
 during Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's Rebellion

Pontiac's Rebellion was a war launched in 1763 by North American First Nations who were dissatisfied with Kingdom of Great Britain policies in the Great Lakes region after the British victory in the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War ....
.






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Fort Presque Isle (also Fort de la Presqui’le) was a fort built by French soldiers in 1753 along Presque Isle Bay
Presque Isle Bay

Presque Isle Bay is a natural Headlands and bays located off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. Its embayment is about in length, about across at its widest point, and an average depth of about ....
 at present-day Erie
Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is an industrial city on the shore of Lake Erie in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Named for the lake and the Erie tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth largest city , with a population of 104,000....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
. The fort was part of a line that included Fort Le Boeuf
Fort Le Boeuf

Fort Le Boeuf was a fort established by the French colonization of the Americas in 1753 on a fork of French Creek , near present-day Waterford, Pennsylvania, in northwest Pennsylvania....
, Fort Machault
Fort Machault

Fort Machault was a fort built by the French colonization of the Americas in 1754 near the confluence of French Creek with the Allegheny River, at present-day Franklin, Pennsylvania, in northwest Pennsylvania....
, and Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne

Fort Duquesne was a fort French colonization of the Americas in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania....
.

The fort was built as part of the French military occupation of the Ohio Country
Ohio Country

The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie....
; rival claims to the area by the British led to the French and Indian War
French and Indian War

The French and Indian War was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War, known in Canada as the War of the Conquest. The name refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various Indigenous peoples of the Americas forces allied with them....
. After the 1759 British victory at the Battle of Fort Niagara
Battle of Fort Niagara

The Battle of Fort Niagara was one of the final battles in the French and Indian War, the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War. The British attack on Fort Niagara was part of a campaign to remove French fortifications from the Great Lakes and Ohio Country regions, allowing for a western invasion of New France in conjunction with Jam...
, the French burned the fort and retreated from the area.
French Forts 1754
The British built a new Fort Presque Isle, which was captured by American Indians
Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
 during Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's Rebellion

Pontiac's Rebellion was a war launched in 1763 by North American First Nations who were dissatisfied with Kingdom of Great Britain policies in the Great Lakes region after the British victory in the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War ....
. On June 19, 1763, the fort was surrounded by about 250 Ottawas
Ottawa (tribe)

The Odawa or Ottawa, said to mean "traders," are a Native Americans in the United States and First Nations people. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwa nation....
, Ojibwa
Ojibwa

The Ojibwa or Chippewa is the largest group of Native Americans in the United States-First Nations north of Mexico, including M?tis people ....
s, Wyandot
Wyandot

The Wyandot and Huron are indigenous peoples of North America of North America known in their Wyandot language as the Wendat. Modern Wyandots and Hurons emerged in the 17th century from the remnants of two earlier groups, the Huron Confederacy and the Petun....
s, and Senecas
Seneca nation

The Seneca are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas people native to North America. They are the westernmost nation within the Six Nations or Iroquois....
. After holding out for two days, the garrison of approximately sixty men surrendered on the condition that they could return to Fort Pitt
Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)

Fort Pitt was a fort in what is now the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The fort was built in 1758 during the French and Indian War, next to the site of Fort Duquesne....
. Most were instead killed after emerging from the fort.

General Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne

Anthony Wayne was a United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of Brigadier general and the sobriquet of "Mad Anthony"....
 first arrived in the area of Presque Isle in 1786. In 1795, 200 Federal troops from Wayne's army, under the direction of Captain John Grubb, built a blockhouse on Garrison Hill, in present-day Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is an industrial city on the shore of Lake Erie in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Named for the lake and the Erie tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth largest city , with a population of 104,000....
. Also named Fort Presque Isle, the blockhouse was used as part of a defense against Native American
Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
 uprisings. It was also used during the War of 1812. General Wayne was stricken ill at Fort Presque Isle and died there in 1796. At his request, his body was buried under the flagpole of the northwest blockhouse of the fort. This blockhouse burned in 1852. In 1880, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania reconstructed the blockhouse at Second and Ash Streets, Erie
Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is an industrial city on the shore of Lake Erie in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Named for the lake and the Erie tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth largest city , with a population of 104,000....
, as a memorial to General Wayne. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is the governmental agency of the Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage....
 has recognized the reconstructed blockhouse as eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation....
.

Sources

  • "The Frontier Forts of Western Pennsylvania," Albert, George Dallas, C. M. Busch, state printer, Harrisburg, PA, 1896. Tracing of plan of Erie, on pg. 536b, shows the "old French fort" between Front Street and Second Street, on the northeast side of Parade Street.
  • indicates this position is 42.137085 -80.079374