"King's House"
Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
A log structure, built prior to 1761, stood on this site. Known, also, as the Commandant's House; later as "Rising Sun Inn." Occupied by British officers until close of French and Indian War. Destroyed by fire, Dec. 14, 1885.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Built before 1761 at the frontier outpost of Bedford, this log structure served as the Commandant's House—the "King's House"—housing British officers who garrisoned the region until the close of the French and Indian War. In later, more peaceful years it took on new life as the Rising Sun Inn before fire destroyed it in 1885. Its story traces Bedford's evolution from a military strongpoint on a dangerous frontier to a settled crossroads town.
Why it matters
The house recalls the network of British forts and posts that secured the Pennsylvania frontier during the French and Indian War, the imperial struggle that opened the trans-Appalachian West to settlement.
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Related events
- · French and Indian War
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Forbes Road, 1758, Fort Bedford to Fort Duquesne - Fort Bedford-Raystown (PLAQUE)
Bedford, PA · est. 1930
Fort Bedford, built at the frontier settlement of Raystown, served as the great supply depot and mustering ground for General John Forbes' 1758 campaign against Fort Duquesne. Here an army of nearly eight thousand men gathered before setting out westward toward the forks of the Ohio. The fort anchored the eastern end of the road that still bears Forbes' name.
Fort Bedford
Bedford, PA · est. 1972
First known as Raystown, Fort Bedford was thrown up in the summer of 1758 by troops under Colonel Henry Bouquet during the French and Indian War. It became the staging point from which General John Forbes launched his methodical campaign westward, cutting a road through the wilderness to seize the French stronghold of Fort Duquesne—the site that would become Pittsburgh. A museum now stands on the fort's original ground.
Fraser Tavern
Bedford, PA · est. 1952
As General Forbes's army pushed toward the Ohio in 1758, frontier settlements sprang up in its wake. Here John Fraser and his wife established an inn and trading post that same year, feeding officers at nearby Fort Raystown, the outpost that grew into Bedford. Fraser was no ordinary tavernkeeper—he had served as a guide and interpreter for a young Colonel George Washington in the tense years before the war.
Bedford County
Bedford, PA · est. 1982
One of Pennsylvania's oldest western counties, Bedford was formed in 1771 and once stretched across much of the state's frontier. In 1758, during the French and Indian War, Fort Bedford rose here as a key link in the British campaign against the French, and the Forbes Road was cut through the wilderness to reach the Ohio country. That military road became one of the great early highways carrying settlers and commerce west.