Fort Deshler

Fort Deshler
Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, near Egypt, Pennsylvaina
Engraving of Fort Deshler (1895).
Type	Fort
Site information
Controlled by	Province of Pennsylvania
Site history
Built	1760
Built by	Adam Deshler
Materials	Stone
Battles/wars	French and Indian War
Fort Deshler Pennsylvania Historical Marker signification Former location of Fort Deshler Coordinates: 40°40′19″N 75°31′12″W / 40.672°N 75.520°W / 40.672; -75.520Coordinates: 40°40′19″N 75°31′12″W / 40.672°N 75.520°W / 40.672; -75.520 PA marker dedicated: October 7, 2001

Fort Deshler, located near Egypt, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, was a French and Indian War era frontier fort established in 1760 to protect settlers from Indian attacks.^[1] The fort was near the location of what is presently the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 145 and Chestnut Street, between Egypt and Coplay.

The fort was built by Adam Deshler, who was employed during the French and Indian War furnishing provisions for provincial forces.^[2] The fort was actually a fortified stone blockhouse, 40 feet (12 m) long and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, with walls 2.5 feet (0.76 m) thick, that also served as Deshler's home. Adjoining the building was a large wooden building, suitable as barracks for twenty soldiers and for storing military supplies.^[3]

There appears to be no evidence that the fort was either garrisoned with provincial troops or served any military purpose beyond functioning as a place of refuge and rendezvous for settlers of the region.^[4]

The fort remained in the Deshler family until 1899, at which time the building and its remaining 151 acres (0.61 km²; 0.24 sq mi) of property were sold to the Coplay Cement Company for $100,000.^[5]

Historian Charles Rhoads Roberts, in his 1914 History of Lehigh County Pennsylvania and a Genealogical and Biographical Records of its Families, wrote the following about Fort Deshler:

This old stone mansion, the only building standing in Lehigh County which was used as a fort in the colonial period, should by all means be preserved and marked as a historic spot, not only as a memorial to the pioneers of this location but also as a reminder to the coming generations of the hardships which their staunch and sturdy ancestors were compelled to undergo.

Fort Deshler was not preserved, and stood in ruins until it collapsed around 1940. Today, its former location is commemorated by a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker.^[6]

See also

• Lehigh County Historical Society
• List of Forts in the United States

Notes

References

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1896). Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch, State Printer of Pennsylvania. 
• Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Rev. John Baer Stoudt, Rev. Thomas H. Krick, William J. Dietrich (1914). History of Lehigh County Pennsylvania and a Genealogical and Biographical Records of its Families 1. Lehigh Valley Publishing Company.  Cite uses deprecated parameters (help)

v t e Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War 1754 Battle of Jumonville Glen Battle of the Great Meadows 1755 Braddock expedition Battle of the Monongahela 1756 Kittanning Expedition 1758 Battle of Fort Duquesne Battle of Fort Ligonier Treaty of Easton 1763 Paxton Boys Frontier Forts Fort Augusta Fort Bedford Fort Deshler Fort Duquesne Fort Halifax Fort Hunter Fort Le Boeuf Light's Fort Fort Ligonier Fort Loudoun Fort Machault Fort Necessity Fort Pitt Fort Presque Isle Fort Prince George Redstone Old Fort Fort Venango