Pittston Fort
Pittston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Erection begun 1772, by Connecticut proprietors. Forced to surrender to the British, July 4, 1778, and partially destroyed. Restored 1780, and used until after the end of the Revolutionary War.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Begun in 1772 by Connecticut proprietors settling the contested Wyoming Valley, Pittston Fort sheltered families on the west bank of the Susquehanna. Caught up in the British and Loyalist descent on the valley, it was forced to surrender on July 4, 1778, and partly destroyed—only to be rebuilt in 1780 and manned through the rest of the Revolutionary War.
Why it matters
Its surrender and revival trace the resilience of frontier settlers who held the Susquehanna line through the war's hardest years.
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Related events
- · Battle of Wyoming
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Jenkins' Fort
West Pittston, PA · est. 1947
Raised in 1776 by Connecticut settlers who claimed the Wyoming Valley under Yankee title, John Jenkins' stockaded home was one of the small frontier forts guarding families along the Susquehanna. On July 1, 1778, as a British and Loyalist force under Major John Butler swept down the valley, the fort surrendered and was put to the torch—days before the bloody Battle of Wyoming that scattered the settlement.
The Bloody Rock
Wyoming, PA · est. 1962
On the night of July 3, 1778, the day after the Battle of Wyoming, this rock became the scene of one of the Revolution's grim atrocities. Fourteen or more captured American soldiers were killed here, according to tradition by a woman remembered as "Queen Esther," though her identity has never been certain. The battle and its aftermath spread terror through the Susquehanna frontier and hardened the war on the Pennsylvania borderlands.
Battle of Wyoming
Wyoming, PA · est. 1952
On July 3, 1778, the Revolution reached the Susquehanna frontier in one of its bloodiest backcountry episodes. A small force of about 300 patriots under Colonel Zebulon Butler marched out to meet a much larger column of British, Loyalists, and allied Iroquois led by Major John Butler. The patriots were routed, many captives were killed, and terrified survivors fled to the refuge of Forty Fort.
Denison House
Forty Fort, PA · est. 1972
Built in 1790 in the Wyoming Valley, this house was home to Colonel Nathan Denison, who had served as a Revolutionary War officer during a turbulent era of frontier warfare and land disputes in northeastern Pennsylvania. After independence, Denison became a Luzerne County judge, helping build the civic institutions of the young republic. The home stands as a tangible link between a soldier's wartime service and his later role in ordering a new nation's local government.