The modern history of this historic site is unique because of the interest the local community has taken in it. Fort McIntosh was Constructed in 1778, at the junction of Ohio and Beaver Rivers. It was named for General Lachlan McIntosh, of whom more later, and consisted of a wooden palisade with bastions on the corners. It contained barracks, officers quarters, a kitchen, a forge and other necessities for a frontier outpost. In 1785, it was the backdrop for the Treaty of Fort McIntosh between the United States, represented by George Rogers Clark, and members of the Delaware, Wyandot, Ottawa and other tribes concerning land concessions in the Ohio Valley. Post-Revolution, it was the headquarters of the First Infantry Regiment, which still exists today.
However, the fort crumbled into disuse and would have lain forgotten had not local citizens of Beaver decided to take matters into their own hands. In the year of the bicentennial, 1976, they remembered that a Revolutionary-era fort had been in their backyard and conducted their own archaeological dig, uncovering the outlines of the original fort. The area was designated a historic site with a dedication presided over by Gen. William Westmoreland. In 2010, a citizen donated money for a granite and sandstone plaque to commemorate the site. Much of the town of Beaver is a historic site, and the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation takes care of the fort, whose outlines are still visible.
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