Fort Ligonier DAR marks site of little-known Fort Preservation

The nation’s 250th birthday is less than two years away, and the Fort Ligonier chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is ready for the major milestone.

As its commitment to the America250 celebration campaign, the Ligonier-based DAR group has drawn public attention to the little-known Fort Preservation, a fortification near the Loyalhanna Creek that played a part in defense of the area against the British and their Native American allies during the Revolutionary War.

DAR members last month dedicated a marker and bench commemorating the now-vanished fort at a creek access area that is overseen by the Loyalhanna Watershed Association just outside Ligonier Borough — near Ruthie’s Diner along Route 30 eastbound.

While the local DAR chapter is named for the more well-known French and Indian War fort that has been reconstructed nearby, the group’s regent, Kathy Hugo, said it’s important to remember the later defensive structure that was an important landmark in the community and the region from 1777 through 1783.

Quoting part of the inscription on the black granite marker, she said, “In addition to providing local citizens protection, the patriots who served here assisted other militias and the Continental Army soldiers in moving critical supplies and keeping vital communications open between Fort Bedford and Fort Pitt.”

To lay the groundwork for the marker project, Hugo and other committee members searched through myriad historical documents. Hugo discovered she had an ancestor among those who took shelter at Fort Preservation — her sixth great-grandfather, Robert Reed, who fled to the fort with his daughter, Martha, during native hostilities in the summer of 1778.

The committee also reviewed the pension records of some of the soldiers who had served at the fort.

“A lot of the men died before they could apply for a pension,” Hugo said, “but we have transcribed the pensions we have found and we are compiling all of our information and would like to publish what we found.

“Most of them were local. Researching information on their families will be our next project.”

Some local history tidbits are sprinkled through a cookbook the DAR group created as a fundraiser for the marker project. The chapter’s fundraising efforts supplemented a $15,000 award from the Ligonier Valley Endowment of the Pittsburgh Foundation.

In addition to recipes submitted by DAR members, the book reproduces directions for making a few older dishes — including Lafayette gingerbread, attributed to George Washington’s mother.

“Some of the recipes are handwritten,” said DAR chapter recording secretary Jennifer Gavin, who oversaw production of the cookbook. “We wanted something where you could feel the history in it.”

According to Gavin, about 20 copies of the book’s print run of 330 remained available as of last week. Email fortligonierdar@gmail.com for more information.

Another project the Ligonier chapter wants to tackle is honoring Revolutionary War veterans who have been laid to rest in the area.

The DAR cleaned the headstones of veterans buried in the Old Ligonier Cemetery, along Ligonier’s North Market Street across from the YMCA.

“Our hope is to get Revolutionary War markers for the graves of guys in some of the other local cemeteries,” Hugo said.