Fort Pontchartrain

Fort Détroit
Detroit, Michigan
1763 siege of Fort Detroit
Type	Fort
Site information
Controlled by	New France  Great Britain  United States
Site history
Built	1701
In use	1701–1796

Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. The site of the former fort is now within the city of Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan, an area bounded by Larned Street, Griswold Street, and the Civic Center (now occupied by office towers).

Cadillac ordered Fort Detroit built on the Detroit River to try to keep the British from moving into the west and to monopolize the fur trade in central North America. Before he built Fort Detroit, Cadillac was commandant of Fort de Buade, another French outpost in North America. Fort de Buade was abandoned in 1697 due to conflicts with religious leaders over the trading of alcohol to the Native Americans. Cadillac persuaded his superiors to let him build a new settlement. He reached the Detroit River on July 23, 1701.

When he landed on the site, he held a celebration to formally take control of the area. In honor of Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain (or his son, Jérôme), Minister of Marine to Louis XIV, Cadillac named the new settlement as Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit. The storehouse and the stockade were started immediately, but the first building completed was Ste. Anne's Church. The stockade came next and was made of logs with defensive bastions or towers in each corner.

After the fort was established, some Ottawa and Huron moved into the area for the convenience of trading with the French.