Bowman's Castle
Encyclopedia
Bowman's Castle, also known as Nemacolin Castle, was built in present-day Brownsville, Pennsylvania
, at the western terminus of the Nemacolin's Trail on the east bank of the Monongahela river
. It replaced a wooden trading post built near the site of Fort Burd, the latter built by British colonists during the French and Indian War
. Construction on the castle, including addition of a crenellated tower, continued through the Victorian era, when it was considered an engineering marvel.
The trading post was built shortly after the American Revolutionary War
, in the mid-to-latter 1780s. Jacob Bowman began constructing the castle during the mid-to-late 1790s in the community once known as Redstone. The trading post was located at the Redstone Creek
river crossing. The community built keelboat
s for travelers and traders on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It was the long-time terminus of the western part of Nemacolin's Trail.
Likely more than 1,200 years before construction of the fort, trading post or castle, prehistoric indigenous peoples
had also found this site a strategic one. They built the earthwork mound
s which the colonists called Redstone Old Fort
. Fort Burd was built on top of its sandstone base.
The Castle is one of several large buildings of the 1850s (In this case, the site holds part of Fort Burd) still standing in western Pennsylvania. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Its alternate name, Nemacolin's Castle, was derived from Nemacolin's Trail, named after the Shawnee
chief
who helped improve and mark the ancient Native American trail through the Alleghenies. It connected the valleys of the Potomac River
and the Ohio River
drainage basin
on the Monongahela River
.
Three generations of the Bowman family were the only ones to live in the house/castle. Jacob Bowman and his wife started building the first part of the structure some time around 1789, with a trading post
on the ground floor and one room above. Finding they needed more room, they added a broad hallway. They had nine children. At Jacob's death in 1847, he left the house to his son Nelson. Nelson added the east wing of the house and the brick tower.
Nelson Bowman and his wife, Elizabeth, also updated the nursery from a colonial to a Victorian style. Although Nelson married late in life, he and Elizabeth had six children. Only two survived to adulthood. When Nelson died in 1892, he left the house to their son Charles Bowman, who lived there with his wife Leila until his death. By her will, the widow Leila Bowman donated the house to the local historical society as a museum. It is now maintained and operated as a house museum by the Brownsville Historical Society.
Brownsville, Pennsylvania
Brownsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, officially founded in 1785 located 35 miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River...
, at the western terminus of the Nemacolin's Trail on the east bank of the Monongahela river
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...
. It replaced a wooden trading post built near the site of Fort Burd, the latter built by British colonists during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. Construction on the castle, including addition of a crenellated tower, continued through the Victorian era, when it was considered an engineering marvel.
The trading post was built shortly after the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, in the mid-to-latter 1780s. Jacob Bowman began constructing the castle during the mid-to-late 1790s in the community once known as Redstone. The trading post was located at the Redstone Creek
Redstone Creek
Redstone Creek is a historically important widemouthed canoe and river boat-navigable brook-sized tributary stream of the Monongahela River in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The creek is long, running from headwaters on Chestnut Ridge north through the city of Uniontown and reaching the Monongahela...
river crossing. The community built keelboat
Keelboat
Keelboat has two distinct meanings related to two different types of boats: one a riverine cargo-capable working boat, and the other a classification for small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yachts.-Historical keel-boats:...
s for travelers and traders on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It was the long-time terminus of the western part of Nemacolin's Trail.
Likely more than 1,200 years before construction of the fort, trading post or castle, prehistoric indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
had also found this site a strategic one. They built the earthwork mound
Mound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...
s which the colonists called Redstone Old Fort
Redstone Old Fort
Redstone Old Fort or Redstone Fort or Fort Burd on The Nemacolin Trail was the name of the French and Indian War era wooden fort built in 1759 by Pennsylvania Militia Colonel James Burd to guard the ancient Indian trail's river ford on a mound overlooking the eastern shore of the Monongahela River...
. Fort Burd was built on top of its sandstone base.
The Castle is one of several large buildings of the 1850s (In this case, the site holds part of Fort Burd) still standing in western Pennsylvania. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Its alternate name, Nemacolin's Castle, was derived from Nemacolin's Trail, named after the Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
who helped improve and mark the ancient Native American trail through the Alleghenies. It connected the valleys of the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
and the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
on the Monongahela River
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...
.
Three generations of the Bowman family were the only ones to live in the house/castle. Jacob Bowman and his wife started building the first part of the structure some time around 1789, with a trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
on the ground floor and one room above. Finding they needed more room, they added a broad hallway. They had nine children. At Jacob's death in 1847, he left the house to his son Nelson. Nelson added the east wing of the house and the brick tower.
Nelson Bowman and his wife, Elizabeth, also updated the nursery from a colonial to a Victorian style. Although Nelson married late in life, he and Elizabeth had six children. Only two survived to adulthood. When Nelson died in 1892, he left the house to their son Charles Bowman, who lived there with his wife Leila until his death. By her will, the widow Leila Bowman donated the house to the local historical society as a museum. It is now maintained and operated as a house museum by the Brownsville Historical Society.
In popular culture
- Interior and exterior scenes for Pie Head: A Kinda True Story, directed by and starring newcomer Hollis McLachlan, were shot at the castle in May 2010.
External links
- "Nemacolin Castle", Official Website
- "Nemacolin Castle, Brownsville, Pennsylvania", BBC List of Castles Open to the Public