Fort Penn
Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Named for Governor John Penn and replacing Fort Hamilton, the fort stood nearby. In 1763, it was garrisoned by Provincial troops. Later it served as refuge from attacks following the Battle of Wyoming, July 3, 1778.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Named for Governor John Penn and built to replace the abandoned Fort Hamilton, Fort Penn stood nearby as a provincial stronghold on the Pocono frontier. Garrisoned in 1763 amid renewed frontier warfare, it later became a haven for terrified settlers fleeing the raids that followed the Battle of Wyoming on July 3, 1778. In two different conflicts it served the same essential purpose: shelter on a dangerous frontier.
Why it matters
Fort Penn links Pennsylvania's mid-century Indian wars to the Revolutionary frontier, where the bloody Wyoming Valley fighting sent civilians fleeing to whatever protection the province could offer.
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Related people
- · Governor John Penn
Related events
- · Battle of Wyoming (July 3, 1778)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Jacob Stroud (1735-1806)
Stroudsburg, PA · est. 1991
Jacob Stroud (1735-1806) was a militia colonel and Revolutionary patriot who fortified his home on this frontier as Fort Penn during the dangerous years of the war. He served in Pennsylvania's 1776 constitutional convention and later in the state legislature, then in 1799 founded the town that bears his name, laying out its streets with his son Daniel. His life spans the transformation of this Pocono country from exposed frontier to settled community.
Sullivan Expedition Against the Iroquois Indians, 1779 (Fort Penn)- PLAQUE
Stroudsburg, PA · est. 1929
In the spring of 1779, General George Washington ordered a punishing campaign into the heart of Iroquois country to end frontier raids allied with the British. Here at Fort Penn, the fortified home of Col. Jacob Stroud served as a rendezvous where companies gathered before joining the main army. From this staging ground in the Pocono foothills, men and supplies funneled westward toward the march that would follow.
Sullivan Expedition Against the Iroquois Indians, 1779 (Learned's Tavern)- PLAQUE
Pocono Township, PA · est. 1929
As Sullivan's army pushed into the wilderness in June 1779, it left the settled country behind. This spot, remembered as "the last house on the frontier," marked the end of the second day's march — a sixteen-mile push into thinning settlement. Beyond here lay forest and the long road to Iroquois territory.
Sullivan's March
Pocono Township, PA · est. 1947
On June 19, 1779, the army of the Sullivan Expedition camped near Learned's Tavern at the close of its second day out of Easton, having covered sixteen miles from Heller's Tavern on the long road toward Fort Wyoming at Wilkes-Barre. The tavern marked a waypoint on the campaign George Washington launched against the British-allied Iroquois. These recorded halts trace the grueling overland route of one of the Revolution's most consequential frontier operations.