Fort Shirley

Not to be confused with Fort Shirley (Maine)

Fort Shirley was a fort erected by the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War.

During the mid-1750s, the mountainous ridges and valleys of south central Pennsylvania were an important theater for colliding European and Native American cultures. The “no man’s land” of the time, these unsettled forests were located between colonial Philadelphia to the east and the Ohio Country to the west The area that is located in the southeastern part of modern-day Huntingdon County lay along new trade routes through the mountains. Before the construction of Fort Shirley, a small trading post built by George Croghan was located along one of the routes. Croghan, an Irish immigrant referred to as the “King of the Traders,” made his home in the fertile fields along Aughwick Creek, just north of the modern-day Shirleysburg (Volwiler 1926). It was here that a well-populated settlement, Aughwick Old Town, sprang up adjacent to George Croghan’s homestead and trading post. Because of Croghan’s presence, the location became an important council place between Natives and the provincial government of Pennsylvania. (Donehoo, "Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania", 1928, p. 8) Aughwick was chosen as a prime location to keep a safe distance from the French at Fort Duquesne, who put a price on his head, as well as the authorities back east, that would arrest him for bankruptcy since his trading activity was interrupted by the start of the Seven Years' War.

NOTE: In 1754 Washington suffered a defeat and Natives Americans loyal to British, including tribal leader and acquaintance of George Washington, Queen Aliquippa and the Half King sought safety at Aughwick under the care of George Croghan. In 1755, after General Edward Braddock' s defeat George Croghan and followers, including Native Americans, return to Aughwick and in summer months fortify the trading post. In 1756 Armstrong uses the site, then Fort Shirley, as a staging area to attack Kittanning.

In September 1755, Croghan fortified the post after General Edward Braddock's defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela. This was done in order to protect his stores and the 200 Iroquois that had fled there after George Washington’s defeat at Fort Necessity. A few months later, the post was taken over by Pennsylvania. The post became a small fort that would protect villagers against attacking Natives, and would be a launching point for militia expeditions. Shirley along with Forts Granville, Lyttelton and Patterson formed a defensive chain that stretched from the lower Juniata River and Aughwick Creek valleys. Croghan’s fort was strengthened by provincial troops and officially named Fort Shirley early in 1756 by the British under Hugh Mercer.

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