Fort Harmar was an early United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 frontier military fort, built in pentagonal shape during 1785 at the confluence of the Ohio

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...

 and Muskingum River

Muskingum River

The Muskingum River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 miles long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio...

s, on the west side of the mouth of the Muskingum River. It was built under the orders of Josiah Harmar

Josiah Harmar

Josiah Harmar was an officer in the United States Army during the American Revolution and the Northwest Indian War. He was the senior officer in the Army for seven years....

 and took his name. The original intention of the fort was to protect Indians, i.e., to prevent pioneer squatters from settling in the land to the northwest of Ohio River, until later agreed by treaties. “The position was judiciously chosen, as it commanded not only the mouth of the Muskingum, but swept the waters of the Ohio, from a curve in the river for a considerable distance both above and below the fort.” It is notable for the 1789 Treaty of Fort Harmar

Treaty of Fort Harmar

The Treaty of Fort Harmar was an agreement between the United States government and numerous Native American tribes with claims to the Ohio Country. it was signed at Fort Harmar, near present-day Marietta, Ohio, on January 9, 1789. Representatives of the Six Nations and other groups including the...

, between the United States and several Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 tribes.

The presence of Fort Harmar was influential in the founding of Marietta, Ohio

Marietta, Ohio

Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Ohio, United States. During 1788, pioneers to the Ohio Country established Marietta as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory. Marietta is located in southeastern Ohio at the mouth...

 in 1788 across the Muskingum. During the one-year anniversary celebration of the founding of Marietta, the distinguished physician Solomon Drowne

Solomon Drowne

Dr. Solomon Drowne was a prominent American physician, academic and surgeon during the American Revolution and in the history of the fledgling United States.- Early life :...

 orated:

But to whom is this settlement more indebted than to the generous chieftain [Josiah Harmar] and other worthy officers of yonder fortress, distinguished by the name of Harmer [Fort Harmar]. With what cheerfulness and cordiality have ye ever entered into every measure promotive of the company's interest. Important is the station ye fill in every respect, and not least in this, that you seem reserved to exhibit to mankind a specimen of that military splendor, which ornamented the arms of America, and would do honor to the troops of any potentate on earth.

While the fort is no longer existent, that area of Marietta is still referred to as Harmar, and the historic value had been registered as the Harmar Historic District

Harmar Historic District

The Harmar Historic District is a historic district related to the early settlement of the Northwest Territory. It is located in the present day Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, USA....

.

Nearby forts

The Campus Martius

Campus Martius (Ohio)

Campus Martius was a defensive fortification at the Marietta, Ohio settlement, and was home to Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper, Arthur St. Clair, and other pioneers from the Ohio Company of Associates during the Northwest Indian War. Major Anselm Tupper was commander of the Campus Martius during the...

 fortification of the Marietta settlement was built on the east side of the Muskingum and upriver from Fort Harmar during 1788, and fully completed in 1791 at the start of the Northwest Indian War

Northwest Indian War

The Northwest Indian War , also known as Little Turtle's War and by various other names, was a war fought between the United States and a confederation of numerous American Indian tribes for control of the Northwest Territory...

. The Picketed Point

Picketed Point Stockade

Picketed Point Stockade was the last of three fortificatons built at Marietta, Ohio. This defensive stockade was built by pioneers during the Northwest Indian War in 1791 on the east side of the mouth of the Muskingum River at its confluence with the Ohio River, and directly across the Muskingum...

fortification of Marietta was built directly across the Muskingum from Fort Harmar, on the east side of the mouth, during 1791.