Fort Carpenter, Alleghany County, Virginia

Alleghany County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,926 people, 5,149 households, and 3,866 families residing in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile . There were 5,812 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...

, was built about 1755-1756 by Joseph Carpenter, who migrated from the Province of New York

Province of New York

The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...

 to "the big bend" of the Jackson River

Jackson River (Virginia)

The Jackson River is a major tributary of the James River in the U.S. state of Virginia, flowing . The James River is formed by the confluence of the Jackson River and the Cowpasture River.-Course:...

 on the Virginia frontier about 1745-1746. It was actually a fortified house, or blockhouse

Blockhouse

In military science, a blockhouse is a small, isolated fort in the form of a single building. It serves as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery...

. Located on a low bluff near the mouth of Carpenter Creek

Carpenter Creek

Carpenter Creek in western Virginia, now known as Potts Creek, was shown on a map of the area drawn by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson in 1751 and printed in 1755, and so called in the text of Thomas Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia" that he prepared in the 1780s...

, it was later known as Cedar Hill. Logs and stones from the original structure were used in the later dwelling now on the site. A young George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 visited the string of frontier forts 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...

in 1756, inspecting Fort Young on the north side of the Jackson River, and Fort Carpenter, described as a fortified house, on the south side.