INTHEKNOW
Fort Walthour
By Jennifer Brozak
A
nyone driving along Pennsylvania Avenue near Brush Hill Road
could easily miss the sign.
Yet, there it stands, tucked between a clearing in the trees at
the far end of the Kohl’s parking lot: A marker that designates the former
location of Fort Walthour, which served as a refuge from Indians for
Pennsylvania Brush Creek settlers.
The weathered blue marker indicates that Fort Walthour, which was
built in 1774, once enclosed a blockhouse and several buildings to
protect its settlers from repeated Indian attacks.
The fort is named after Capt. Christopher Conrad Walthour, a soldier
in the Revolutionary War who arrived from Berks County in about
1767. Capt. Walthour eventually purchased the 900 acres of land upon
which the fort was built and he, along with his neighbors, constructed
the blockhouse. The area was primarily a Pennsylvania Dutch
settlement, with neighboring cabins surrounding the fort.
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