Fort Necessity NB Landscape: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Fort Necessity National Battlefield
Killion JT, Berriault E, Little K. 2022. Fort Necessity NB Landscape: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Fort Necessity National Battlefield. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 300002. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
The Fort Necessity National Battlefield (NB) Landscape is located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The park was established in 1931 to commemorate the Battle of Fort Necessity (also known as the Battle of Great Meadows) and George Washington’s progression as a military officer and leader. Together, the park’s three units capture the story of the opening engagements of the French and Indian War, each of which George Washington played a role in. Additionally, the park interprets the development and operation of the National Road, the first federally-constructed interstate highway. The Fort Necessity NB Landscape project area includes the entirety of the 26-acre Jumonville Glen unit, which sits along the crest of Chestnut Ridge, seven miles northwest of the main park unit. A secluded rocky bluff, hidden under the forest canopy, is the main feature of this unit. In May 1754, this secluded spot was the scene of George Washington’s first military engagement, a dawn skirmish with a French force encamped at the base of the cliff. Today, a dense forest canopy covers the remote site, standing over the cliffs as well as two memorials and remnants of 1930s circulation features. The main park unit comprises 852 acres, of which 481 acres fall within the Fort Necessity NB Landscape project area. The area includes the remains of Fort Necessity, where Lieutenant Colonel George Washington had his first test as a commander in battle. Washington’s men built Fort Necessity shortly after combat at Jumonville Glen, as they anticipated a French counterattack. On July 3, 1754, Washington and his men were surrounded by a force of French and Indians nearly double their number. The Battle of Great Meadows ensued, and George Washington’s force sustained nearly 100 casualties, equaling a quarter of their total number. On the evening of July 3, Washington surrendered Fort Necessity to the French. It was the first and only time Washington surrendered in his military career. Today, the reconstructed fort stands solitary in Great Meadows, where efforts are underway to reestablish the forest surrounding the meadow and to restore the vegetation to approximate the historic frontier scene of 1754. Nearby is the trace of the Braddock Road, the military road built and used by Washington in 1754 and improved by Major General Edward Braddock in 1755. The site also includes three commemorative monuments and other structures built in the 1920s and 1930s, and several stands of conifers planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Fort Necessity NB Landscape project area also encompasses the 24-acre Braddock’s Gravesite unit, located about one mile northwest from the main park unit. The site contains the original grave of Major General Edward Braddock, who led a 2,400 man army on a failed campaign against the French in response to the Battle of Great Meadows. On July 9, 1755, the campaign ended at the Battle of the Monongahela, where Braddock was mortally wounded and his army decimated. Five days later Braddock was hastily buried as his remaining troops retreated after the battle. Today the landscape is focused on the trace Braddock Road, and commemorative memorials built in 1913-1931. These features are located amongst lawns and trees adjacent to US 40, but the remainder of the site is wooded. A portion of the National Road, now US 40, tracks through the east side of the Main Unit and alongside the Braddock’s Gravesite Unit. With the rapid westward expansion of the country underway at the turn of the nineteenth century, new resources and a growing population required new transportation infrastructure. Construction of the road began in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1811, and reached the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia, by 1818. The National Road was the principal American highway into the 1850s, and many inns sprang up along the thoroughfare to provide food and lodging for travelers, including the 1830s Mount Washington Tavern.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Killion, Jeffrey; Berriault, Ethan; Little, Kelsey
- Date of Issue
- 2022-09-21
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- FONE , NER
- Keywords
- 1763-1898, Agricultural Field, American Exploration and Settlement, American), and Taverns East of the Mississippi, Barn, Battery (Defense), Battle Site, Braddock’s Grave, Braddock’s Gravesite, British, Cabin), Camp, Colonial Exploration and Settlement, Commemoration., Commerce, Creating Social Institutions and Movements, Developing the American Economy, Early Military Landscapes (pre-1776), Early Pathfinders Developing the American Economy, Early Turnpikes, Expansion of the Colonies and the United States, Exploration Trails (Spanish, Exploration/Settlement, Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Fort Necessity National Battlefield Site, Fort Necessity State Park, French, General Recreation, Highways and Freeways, Hiking Trail, Historic Designed Landscape, Historic Preservation Movement, Historic Site, Interpretive Trail, Jumonville Glen, Leisure-Passive (Park), Lodge (Inn, Lounge), Maintenance Facility, Military, Monument (Marker, Mount Washington, Peopling Places, Planned Roads, Plaque), Ranger Station, Recreation, Restaurant (Bar, Roads, Russian, Shaping the Political Landscape, Single Family House, Social and Humanitarian Movements, Tourism, Trails and Travelers, Transportation by Land and Air, Visitor Contact (Visitor Center)