Fought's Mill
Mifflinburg, Union County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The nearby mill is on the site of the earlier mill built in 1771. The original Fought's Mill was a settlers' refuge against Indians in Revolutionary days. Here was held Nov. 3, 1776, Buffalo Valley's first election under the Constitution of 1776.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
A mill has stood near this spot since 1771, when Fought's Mill first turned grain for the settlers of Buffalo Valley. During the Revolution, the sturdy mill doubled as a place of refuge when frontier raids threatened the scattered farms of the region. It was also here, on November 3, 1776, that Buffalo Valley held its first election under Pennsylvania's new revolutionary state constitution.
Why it matters
Frontier mills like this one were the economic and civic hearts of backcountry communities, serving at once as workplace, fortress, and — as the 1776 election shows — a cradle of self-government.
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Related events
- · Buffalo Valley's first election under the Constitution of 1776
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Lee Massacre
Union Township, PA · est. 1947
On August 16, 1782, Major John Lee and his family were killed near this place in a raid by an Indian war party, with only his son Robert surviving. The attack came during the violent final years of the Revolutionary War on the Pennsylvania frontier, when British-allied raids terrorized isolated valley settlements. Such tragedies were a grim feature of life on the contested edge of the new nation.
The Sullivan Expedition Against the Iroquois Indians - Fort Augusta - PLAQUE
Sunbury, PA · est. 1929
Fort Augusta, guarding the forks of the Susquehanna at Sunbury, was first chosen as a rendezvous for the Sullivan campaign. From here Lt. Col. Adam Hubley's regiment — the one unit quartered at the fort — marched to join the offensive against the Six Nations in 1779. The old fort thus became one of several launching points feeding troops into the larger expedition.
The Sullivan Expedition Against the Iroquois Indians - Fort Freeland - PLAQUE
Delaware Township, PA · est. 1929
Jacob Freeland raised a mill on this ground in 1773 and, as war reached the frontier, stockaded it in 1778 for defense. On July 28, 1779, British-allied Tories and Seneca warriors attacked and destroyed the fort, and the inscription records that 108 settlers were killed or taken prisoner. The assault came at the height of the brutal frontier fighting that Sullivan's expedition was meant to answer.
Fort Freeland
Delaware Township, PA · est. 1947
As the Revolution reached the Pennsylvania frontier, settlers fortified Jacob Freeland's house in 1778, ringing it with a stockade against raids. On July 29, 1779, a force of British and allied Indians overwhelmed the small post, and its garrison of 21 were killed or captured—one of the sharp, deadly clashes that made the upper Susquehanna a war zone.