Fort Chambers
Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Erected in 1756 by Col. Benjamin Chambers, pioneer land-owner and founder of the town, who fortified his house and mill with stockade and cannon against Indians.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1756, as the French and Indian War set the frontier ablaze, pioneer landowner Col. Benjamin Chambers fortified his house and mill with a stockade and cannon for defense against Native raids. Chambers had settled at this junction of waters years earlier and founded the town that still bears his name. His fortified homestead anchored one of the exposed western settlements during the war's dangerous years.
Why it matters
It marks the founding and defense of Chambersburg, a frontier community that survived the French and Indian War to become a lasting Pennsylvania town.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Chambers
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fort McCord - PLAQUE
Hamilton Township, PA · est. 1914
On April 1, 1756, Fort McCord — one of the small stockaded refuges thrown up along Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley frontier during the French and Indian War — was overrun, and twenty-seven settlers were killed or carried off. A militia party that gave chase was itself ambushed days later at Sideling Hill, where many of the pursuers fell. The marker names the women, children, and provincial soldiers lost, preserving a roll of the dead from one of the war's bloodiest weeks on the backcountry.
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