Fort Pitt Block House

1758 to 1792 - The Beginning

1800-1892 - The Block House as a Residence

1893-1907 - The Daughters of the American Revolution & Block House Restoration

1917 to Present - The Building of Point State Park & Future Block House Events

November 1758 - Under the command of General John Forbes, the British are successful in taking over the Forks of the Ohio from the French.
1761 - Fort Pitt, one of the largest and most elaborate forts in 18th century North America, is finished.
January 1762 - Flooding of Fort Pitt.
February 1763 - End of French and Indian War.
March 1763 - Flooding of Fort Pitt.
May 1763 - Pontiac's Uprising begins; attacks begin around Fort Pitt.
June-August 1763 - Siege of Fort Pitt.
1764 - Fort Pitt Block House and four other redoubts are constructed to help with the defense of Fort Pitt.
1772 - British decommission Fort Pitt; the Block House becomes one of the trading posts of Indian Agent Alexander McKee.
1774 - Dunmore's War begins, a struggle between Virginia and Pennsylvania over which colony will have jurisdiction over the Forks of the Ohio region.
1775 - First shots of the American Revolution are fired at Lexington & Concord, Massachusetts.
1775 - Fort Pitt becomes the western headquarters for the Continental Army.
1778 - Alexander McKee escapes from Pittsburgh as a British Loyalist; the Block House is no longer in use as a trading post.
1783 - End of the American Revolution.
1785 - The demolition and selling of Fort Pitt begins. The Point District surrounding the fort is sold to Major Isaac Craig and his business partner, Colonel Stephen Bayard. Isaac Craig and his family begin to occupy the Block House as a residence. Craig builds a larger brick house next to the Block House, also for use as a residence. The brick house is made entirely out of bricks purchased from the remains of Fort Pitt.
1789 - The Craig family move out of the Block House and neighboring brick house.
1792 - Fort Pitt is officially decommissioned by the United States Army. It is replaced by a smaller fortification called Fort Fayette, located further down the Allegheny River.

1805 - Entire Point District is sold to James O'Hara, prominent Pittsburgh citizen.
1827 - Mary Elizabeth Croghan, granddaughter to James O'Hara, inherits the Point District upon the death of her mother. She is only one year old at the time.
1832 - First known image of the Block House is sketched and painted by Russell Smith.
1834 - John F. Watson describes the Block House and other ruins of Fort Pitt in his book, Watson's Annals.
1837 - Block House occupied by a German couple, leasing it for $40 a month.
1843 - The Block House is converted into a multi-family tenement with a family living on the second floor and a separate family living on the first floor. The former Isaac Craig home next door is also divided into tenement housing. Original sketch of the Block House made by Sherman Day shows the addition of a doorway in the upper floor of the Block House as well as the lean-to addition leading into the lower floor.
1854 - Construction of the proposed Duquesne Freight Depot at the Point reveals a stone powder magazine from Fort Pitt. It is demolished, leaving the Block House as the official remaining structure of the fort. A new original sketch of the site is made by John Falconer, depicting the deteriorating conditions of the building and the neighborhood surrounding it.
1850s-1860s - McMahon Family occupies Block House. In a publication from the time period, the people living in the Block House are described as being of the "lowest class."
1872 - Marie Flaherty, Irish widow, listed in a city directory as living in "Old Fort Duquesne," the Block House.
May 1872 - Stone tablet which reads "A. D. 1764 ~ Coll. Bouquet" is removed from the Block House and placed into the walls of Pittsburgh's new city hall on Smithfield Street.
1877 - Hannah Lee and her two young daughters, Mary and Margaret, move into the upstairs of the Block House.
1881 - Hannah Lee interviewed by Harper's Weekly Magazine in which she remarks upon her rent of $5 a month being more than the woman who lives in the lower floor of the Block House. Lee also mentions that the woman operates a store.
1884 - Lee family departs from the Block House.
1885 - Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania petitions Mary E. Croghan Schenley for ownership of the Block House. They are denied on the advice of her attorney.
June 1891 - The Pittsburgh Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is chartered.
January 1892 - Pittsburgh Chapter begins petitioning Mary E. Croghan Schenley for the ownership of the Block House. She accepts their petition; however, the Chapter must incorporate themselves in order to own the building, and they have to wait for the tenants' leases to expire.
November 1892 - Pittsburgh Chapter officially incorporated as the "Daughters of the American Revolution of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania."

April 1894 - Official deed received, gifting the Fort Pitt Block House to the Daughters of the American Revolution of Allegheny County, PA. Mary Schenley retains all property rights as they relate to the closing and opening of streets, and a "reversionary clause" is included stating that the Block House will return to the Schenley Estate if the DAR fail in preserving and maintaining the building.
April 1894 - Restoration begins on the Block House. The project will last 16 months and includes the in-filling of windows and other openings in the walls of the Block House as well as the demolition of blighted properties surrounding the building.
May 1894 - Last known occupants of the Block House move out of the Block House: Sarah "Aunt Sibby" Powers, living on the first floor where she operated a candy store out of a window, and Mrs. Sarah Costello and her daughter, Delia, living on the second floor. DAR begins discussion of vacating the other tenements surrounding the Block House property. One tenant refuses to leave because he believes he owns his house outright. He is given $200 although all of the other displaced tenants are given the equivalent of one month's rent (anywhere from $4 to $5).
June 1894 - DAR decides to demolish the Isaac Craig house after much discussion. The bricks used to build the house were taken from Fort Pitt in 1785; these bricks will be used by the DAR toward the restoration of the Block House.
January 1895 - Stone tablet reading "A. D. 1764 ~ Coll. Bouquet" is returned to the Block House and placed above the entrance door.
March 1895 - DAR discusses the conservation and research of the Stone Sundial, an 18th century sundial found on the grounds of the Block House during the restoration. The sundial commemorates the Battle of Bushy Run of 1763.
July 1895 - The Fort Pitt Block House officially opens to visitors for the first time. Matthew Golden, a resident of the Point District, becomes the first caretaker of the Block House, hired by the DAR.
1899 - Edith Darlington Ammon, first cousin once removed to Mary Schenley, becomes the Regent of the Pittsburgh Chapter. Matilda Denny, also a cousin to Schenley and Ammon, becomes President of the Board of Directors of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Allegheny County, PA (the Board in charge of the Block House).
December 1901 - The DAR officially become aware of the City of Pittsburgh's decision to close Fort Street (next to the Block House) as well as the leasing of the Point District to a "Warehouse Syndicate" by the Schenley Estate.
December 1901 - Frank Nicola, agent for the Warehouse Syndicate, offers $25,000 to the DAR for the rights and title to the Block House, as well as offering to remove the historic structure to Schenley Park (this offer being turned down by the DAR).
Winter/Spring 1902 - DAR file for a court appeal of the Fort Street ordinance on the basis that its petition was not signed by Schenley herself but by her attorney, William Herron. DAR win their case in county court; however, it will continue to be appealed by the Warehouse Syndicate over the next year.
January 1902 - DAR begin to petition City of Pittsburgh for establishment of a city park at the Point in order to preserve the Block House and the Point's history. Petition thrown out by City in April 1902.
February 1902 - Henry Clay Frick purchases the entire Point District (with the exception of the Block House) from Schenley for $2 million. He also purchases the Block House "reversionary clause" for $10. Deed made public in October 1902.
1903 - Mary E. Croghan Schenley dies at the age of 77.
January 1903 - Pennsylvania Supreme Court strikes down favorable DAR ruling from 1902. Plans move forward for the demolition of properties in the Point District to make way for warehouses and a rail yard.
Spring 1903 - Two bills are introduced in Pennsylvania Legislature. One supporting the repression of eminent domain is lobbied by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the DAR; the other pushes for an increase in eminent domain laws. The two bills will ultimately be combined into one, main bill. The bill is vetoed by the governor of Pennsylvania due to its lenience toward eminent domain.
July 1903 - DAR file damage suit against, among others, the City of Pittsburgh and Mary Schenley, asking for $50,000 in damages as a result of the closings of Fort Street and Point Alley.
October 1904 - DAR win damage suit but are only allotted $10,000.
January 1907 - New bill introduced into Pennsylvania Legislature by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the DAR through the help of Representative Michael Kennedy. The wording of the bill is authored by Chapter Regent Edith Ammon who lobbies Harrisburg for six months. The bill calls for the exemption of the Block House and other colonial structures from eminent domain.
May 1907 - Edith Ammon's bill becomes a state law, thereby saving the Block House from destruction. Unfortunately, the law will not save the Point District from the encroachments of the railroad and the Block House becomes surrounded by an industrial site.

1917 - The Pittsburgh Chapter of the DAR legally changes its incorporated name to "The Fort Pitt Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania" - a name which it still uses to this day.
1919 - Edith Darlington Ammon dies at the age of 56.
1950s - Pennsylvania steps forward and offers to build a state park at the Point in an effort to preserve its history and clean up the City of Pittsburgh's blighted areas. The Fort Pitt Block House will remain under the private operation and ownership of the Fort Pitt Society of the DAR per agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
1960s - Construction of Point State Park and Fort Pitt Museum.
1960 - The Fort Pitt Block House becomes a National Historic Landmark as part of the Historic Forks of the Ohio.
1969 - Fort Pitt Museum, owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) for the next 40 years, is opened to the public.
1974 - Point State Park and its new fountain are officially completed and open to the public.
May 2003 - Fort Pitt Society decides to have an archeological excavation of the floor inside the Block House. This is the first excavation ever done on Block House property, and it yields thousands of artifacts dating from pre-historic eras to modern day.
2007 - Point State Park begins renovations to its grounds and walkways. The Fort Pitt Block House also undergoes renovations including the replacement of its roof and improvements to its surrounding landscape.
2008 - The Fort Pitt Block House is named an Historic Landmark by the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
2010 - Under an agreement with the PHMC, the Senator John Heinz History Center begins to operate the Fort Pitt Museum.
Jan-October 2013 – Major preservation and restoration project conducted throughout the year at the Block House including preservation of the original gun-loop timbers.
April 2013 – New website, www.fortpittblockhouse.com, launched, the first official website dedicated to the Block House.
August 2013 – Archaeological survey conducted on the grounds of the Block House in preparation for construction of the Edith Ammon Memorial Garden.
October 2013 – First comprehensive history of the Block House published by The History Press, Inc. The book, entitled The Fort Pitt Block House, was written by site curator, Emily Weaver.
October 2013 – The Block House experienced record-breaking crowds when the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's International Festival of Firsts brought a giant Rubber Duck to town. Over 20,000 guests visited the Block House in less than one month while the rubber duck was docked at Point State Park.
2014 – The Block House turns 250 years old! Year-long, city-wide celebrations are planned by the Fort Pitt Society, owners & operators of the Block House since 1894.