The Fort

 During the French and Indian Wars Lancaster was a “western frontier” city. Beginning in the fall of 1757, British regulars mustered at Lancaster. Supplies and wagons were assembled here before being sent westward. At the time city residents were required to quarter the soldiers in their homes. Local officials protested, and issued complaints to the General Assembly in Philadelphia. By 1760 funds were provided for the construction of a military barracks in Lancaster at Duke and Walnut on the site of today’s church. (At the time, this was on the outskirts of the city.)

The fort was surrounded by a wooden stockade. It extended from Walnut St. north to the end of the row of present-day houses, and west along Walnut to the alley-way behind the buildings on Queen St. (not Christian St.)

The building was a 3-story, U-shaped brick structure, opening toward Duke St. 500 soldiers were housed in 76 rooms. There was a graveyard outside the north wall (under the parking lot at the apartment building at Duke and Lemon. The buildings that served as stables for he fort still stand on Duke St. opposite the Church.  There is a state historical marker on Duke St..

In 1776, Washington surprised the British army and won the Battle of Trenton after his famous crossing of the Delaware on Christmas Day. Many of the Hessian soldiers he captured were sent to Lancaster and held in the barracks. The reports of the numbers held range from 800 to 2000.

After the war the barracks were abandoned and left to crumble. By 1785 the chimneys and gables collapsed. Sometime before 1802 the land was returned to the Hamilton family. The old fort was replaced with homes.
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1807