Fort Allen (Carbon County, Pennsylvania)

Fort Allen
Franklin Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania (near Weissport, Pennsylvania)
Site information
TypeMilitary fort
Controlled byBorough of Weissport
Location
Fort Allen
Location of Fort Allen in Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°49′46″N 75°42′10″W / 40.82938°N 75.70281°W / 40.82938; -75.70281
Site history
Built1756
In use1756-1780
Battles/warsFrench and Indian War
Pontiac's War
American Revolutionary War
Garrison information
Past
commanders
Captain Isaac Wayne
Captain Charles Foulk
Captain George Reynolds
Captain Jacob Orndt
Captain John Bull
Garrison15-75 men plus officers

Fort Allen was a military structure built in Franklin Township (in what is now Weissport), in Carbon County, Pennsylvania in 1756. It was first of several frontier defenses erected by Benjamin Franklin for the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. The garrison was rarely more than fifty men, and the fort never saw combat, however it became a center of contact and trade with Native Americans and served as a stopping point for Indians traveling to and from Bethlehem, Easton and Philadelphia. It was abandoned in 1761 near the end of the French and Indian War, and briefly reoccupied during Pontiac's War and again during the American Revolutionary War.:224