Fort Prince George

After the Virginians and local Indian tribes made a deal, the Virginians began building a fort and storehouse at the Forks of the Ohio, at present-day Point State Park. The goal was to beat the French to the land, and the pivotal trade point. Christopher Gist served as the Company's agent, and promised the Indians that the post would supply them with an abundance of trade.

Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia backed the Ohio Company, and merged private land speculators and government power in the hopes of cementing Virginia's claim to the Ohio Country. Along with the Virginia House of Burgesses, he granted military commissions to the important Ohio Company agents, and recruited militiamen to defend the Forks from French attacks. The new base was to be called "Trent's Fort," as construction began under Ohio Company agent William Trent in February 1754.

The fort was unfinished when 500 French troops arrived in April of the same year. Seeing that they were outnumbered, the Virginians took generous surrender terms and vacated the post. The French burned what existed of Trent's Fort and built Fort Duquesne in its place.

The name Fort Prince George was not attached to the site until several months after the Virginians surrender, when Governor Dinwiddie proposed it in a letter to his London superiors. By that time the French were already living comfortably in the Forks, and the Ohio Company's plans were foiled.

The Fort Prince George marker was dedicated on Friday, May 8, 1959. It reads: "Name intended for fort begun here by Virginia force early in 1754 on site noted by Washington as 'well situated for a Fort.' Captured by the French, April 17, 1754, before its completion."