A preliminary documentary review of historical notations of the Great Meadows 1740-1970

Strach, Stephen

This document is an extensive collection of historical notations which make reference to the natural resources of the Great Meadows located on the grounds of Fort Necessity National Battlefield. The purpose of this report is to gather under one cover all known primary and or contemporary notations, 1740-1970, of an area historically called the “Great Meadows” or “the Meadows”. The Meadows are located in present-day Wharton Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. More specifically, they compose a major portion of lands now owned and administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service under title of Fort Necessity National Battlefield. Historically the Meadows are most closely associated as the site upon which George Washington constructed a small fortified position known as Fort Necessity in the year 1754. At this site on July 3, 1754 was fought the opening engagement of the last of a series of American Colonial Wars for empire between England and France, the French and Indian War. Recently, those responsible for the management of the park’s natural resources have expressed a desire to initiate a long-term project aimed at redesigning the natural setting, now prevalent, to make all more closely resemble that of the year 1754. As a first step toward this end, the present report has been drafted. Hopefully the material gathered will after careful study by the park’s Natural Resource Managers allow them to determine how best to continue such a project.