| Fort Deshler | |
|---|---|
| Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania | |
 An 1895 engraving of Fort Deshler inWhitehall Township, Pennsylvania | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Fort |
| Controlled by | Province of Pennsylvania |
| Location | |
  Fort Deshler Former location of Fort Deshler inPennsylvania | |
| Coordinates | 40°40′19″N75°31′12″W / 40.672°N 75.520°W /40.672; -75.520 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1760 |
| Built by | Adam Deshler |
| Materials | Stone |
| Battles/wars | |
| Designated | October 7, 2001 |
Fort Deshler, located nearEgypt,Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, USA, was aFrench and Indian War era frontierfort established in 1760 to protect settlers from Indian attacks.[1]: 111 The fort was near the location of what is now the intersection ofPennsylvania Route 145 and Chestnut Street, between Egypt andCoplay.
The fort was built by Adam Deshler, who immigrated from Switzerland in 1733 and was employed during the French and Indian War furnishing provisions for provincial forces.[2]: 3 [3][4]: 175 [5]: 288 It was actually a fortified stoneblockhouse, 40 feet (12 m) long and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, with walls 2.5 feet (0.76 m) thick, that also served as Deshler's home. The main house was two stories in height with an attic living space.[3] Gun ports were concealed throughout the thick stone walls.[2]: 3 Adjoining the main building was a second large wooden structure, used asbarracks for 20 soldiers and for storing military supplies.[4]: 175 [3][6]
There appears to be no evidence that the fort was either garrisoned with provincial troops or served any military purpose beyond functioning as a place of refuge and rendezvous for settlers of the region.[4]: 174–175 The fort saw no military action during the French and Indian War.
On October 8, 1763, duringPontiac's War, a war party of about 20 Native Americans attacked several homes inWhitehall Township, Pennsylvania. They killed a militia captain (Captain Jacob Wetterholt) and about 23 civilians,[7] raiding and setting fire to homes before fleeing.[8] Dozens of local residents took refuge in Fort Deshler during this attack.[1]: 103–113 One report states that at that time, the fort had "twenty men in arms," although these were probably not soldiers.[4]: 174 [9] These men pursued the Indians but lost them, then recovered two injured girls, one of whom had been scalped.[1]: 104 [10]: 121–125
The fort remained in the Deshler family until 1899, when the building and its remaining 151 acres (0.61 km2; 0.24 sq mi) of property were sold to the Coplay Cement Company for $100,000.[1]: 113
The historian Charles Rhoads Roberts, in his 1914History of Lehigh County Pennsylvania and a Genealogical and Biographical Records of its Families, wrote the following about Fort Deshler:
Fort Deshler was not preserved, and stood in ruins until it collapsed around 1940. Its location is commemorated by aPennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker.[11][12]
