Just a couple of miles north of Harrisburg, you’ll find a site that embodies the early
history of Pennsylvania.
Fort Hunter was a military fort built in February 1756 to protect a grist mill on what is now Fishing Creek following an October 1755 massacre there by native Americans seeking to drive colonists off their historic lands. It was one of more than two dozen forts the British built in Eastern Pennsylvania. Fort Hunter was abandoned in 1763 and was eventually purchased by
Archibald McAllister who built his original home there in 1787.
In 1814 McAllister built a significant addition in front of his earlier home and it became known as the Fort Hunter Mansion. You can tour this federal style mansion with an elegant cantilevered spiral staircase that rises three stories. Visitors to the property will see another half-dozen structures including the Centennial Barn built in 1876, the Tavern House, a springhouse, icehouse, smokehouse, stable, and a privy.
There’s also a covered bridge on the property built in 1880 that originally crossed the Little Buffalo Creek in Perry County. Two moves later, the Everhart Bridge is open to pedestrian traffic. Those crossing it will find vestiges of the Pennsylvania Canal which was built in the 1820s and ran from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. Mr. McAllister was upset with the canal’s engineers as
the canal bisected his property. This section of the canal remained in operation into the 1890s, primarily for the cheap transport of coal, while the Erie and other canals in Pennsylvania, were abandoned in the 1840s as railroads replaced canal boats.
Archaeological excavations began on the site earlier this century, finding a stone-lined well, a cannonball, musket balls, and other artifacts related to the fort. Also found were numerous Native American artifacts, such as spear points, stone tools, and pottery dating back
as much as 9,000 years.
An article by Bill Cologie.
Along the Greenbelt is produced by the Capital Area Greenbelt Association in
cooperation with The Historical Society of Dauphin County.