{{Short description|Redoubt in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox building |name = Fort Pitt Block House |image = Bouquet blockhouse.JPG |image_size = |former_names = Bouquet's Block House<br/>Bouquet's Redoubt<br/>Old Block House<ref>{{cite web|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pittsburgh_Volume_3_Plate_1.jpg|title=English: This is a map published in 1900 of the area of Pittsburgh now known as Point State Park.|first=G. M. Hopkins &|last=Co|date=July 19, 2011|via=Wikimedia Commons|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111024035/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pittsburgh_Volume_3_Plate_1.jpg|archive-date=November 11, 2012}}</ref> |location = Point State Park,<br/>Pittsburgh |coordinates = {{coord|40.4412|-80.0098|region:US-PA|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |building_type = Redoubt |completion_date = 1764 |floor_count = 2 {{Infobox NRHP |embed=yes | name =Forks of the Ohio | nrhp_type = cp | nrhp_type2 = nhldcp | designated_other1_name = Pennsylvania state historical marker | designated_other1_abbr=PHMC | designated_other1_date = May 8, 1959<ref name=phmcdatabase>{{cite web | title =Fort Pitt Blockhouse - PHMC Historical Markers | work =Historical Marker Database | publisher =Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission | url =http://search.pahistoricalmarkers.com/ | access-date =December 10, 2013 | url-status =dead | archive-url =https://archive.today/20131207041235/http://search.pahistoricalmarkers.com/ | archive-date =December 7, 2013 }}</ref> | designated_other1_link = List of Pennsylvania state historical markers | designated_other1_color = navy | designated_other1_textcolor=#ffc94b | designated_other2 = PHLF | designated_other2_date = unknown<ref name="PHLFphoto">{{citation | url=http://www.phlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/Plaque1.jpg |title=Plaque | year=2007 | publisher=Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation | location=Pittsburgh, PA | format=photo | access-date=July 15, 2011 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721004419/http://www.phlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/Plaque1.jpg | archive-date=July 21, 2011 }}</ref> | image = | caption = | location= | locmapin = | area = | built = | architect= | architecture= | designated_nrhp_type= October 15, 1966 | designated_nrhp_type2= October 9, 1960<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=473&ResourceType=Site|title=Forks of the Ohio|access-date=July 2, 2008|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722012959/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=473&ResourceType=Site|archive-date=July 22, 2011}}</ref> | partof = Point State Park | governing_body = | partof_refnum=66000643<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref> }} }} The '''Fort Pitt Block House''' (sometimes called '''Bouquet's Blockhouse'''<ref name="Historical marker"/> or '''Bouquet's Redoubt'''<ref name="Durant map">{{cite web|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Pitt_1795_large.jpg|title=Plan of Fort Pitt|last=Durant|first=Samuel W.|year=1876|access-date=July 17, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126214816/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Pitt_1795_large.jpg|archive-date=January 26, 2012}}</ref>) is a historic building in Point State Park in the city of Pittsburgh. It was constructed in 1764 as a redoubt of Fort Pitt, making it the oldest extant structure in Western Pennsylvania,<ref name="Point State Park">{{cite web|url=http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/point.aspx|title=Point State Park|publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources|access-date=July 15, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709050117/http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/point.aspx|archive-date=July 9, 2011}}</ref> as well as the "oldest authenticated structure west of the Allegheny Mountains".<ref name="Steve Mellon">{{cite web|url=http://postgazette.com/pg/08280/917212-429.stm|title=The Blockhouse, Point State Park|last=Mellon|first=Steve|publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=July 16, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527125325/http://postgazette.com/pg/08280/917212-429.stm|archive-date=May 27, 2011}}</ref>
The structure has never been torn down, completely rebuilt, or moved during its centuries of existence. Much of its timbers, brick, and stone remain original to its 1764 construction.
== History == The Block House was constructed in 1764 as a defensive military redoubt. Henry Bouquet initiated the construction of a small number of redoubts around the outer walls of the fort as a way to reinforce its defense,<ref group="note">. The specific number of redoubts constructed is variously listed as two (Toker 2007) or five (Toker 2009)</ref> of which only the Fort Pitt Block House survives.<ref name="Toker 2007">{{cite book|last=Toker|first=Franklin|title=Buildings of Pittsburgh|publisher=Society of Architectural Historians|location=Chicago|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8139-2650-6}}</ref>
The structure had been converted into a private house in 1785 by Isaac Craig. When Fort Pitt was demolished in 1792, the Block House was left untouched because it was in use as a residence.
In 1894, philanthropist Mary Schenley presented the deed to the Block House to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).<ref name="Atlantic Reporter">{{cite book|title=Atlantic Reporter|publisher=West Publishing Co.|location=St. Paul|year=1911|volume=79|pages=128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-twKAAAAYAAJ&q=blockhouse+schenley+frick&pg=PA128}}</ref><ref name="DAR magazine">{{cite book|title=Daughters of the American Revolution magazine|year=1894|volume=5|pages=160|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aOcWAAAAYAAJ&q=daughters%20of%20the%20american%20revolution%20blockhouse&pg=PA160}}</ref> She did this specifically so that the structure might be preserved for future generations:<blockquote><!-- Note: The following text is sufficiently old to be in the public domain, both by the 1923 rule and life + 70, so there are no copyright concerns regarding the length of the quotation. -->You are to preserve and keep this relic of a bygone past, and to gather and preserve all obtainable history and tradition in regard to it, and you are to beautify and adorn it and to make it the receptacle of relics bearing on the Colonial and Revolutionary periods of its existence....I will therefore...leave the ladies of your Society, who have the history of western Pennsylvania at their finger ends, to tell the story of the chivalrous Frenchmen, cruel, crafty Indians, courageous British, and intrepid Colonists. It is fitting that this old landmark, rich in historic associations of more than a century ago, should fall into the hands of those who by birth, tradition, and sentiment are particularly fitted to receive and preserve it and perpetuate the memories of the days when it was occupied by the French and their Indian allies, and afterwards by the British and Colonial troops.<ref name="DAR magazine" /></blockquote>
(However, the French had already abandoned control of the area when the blockhouse was built in 1764.)
Industrialist Henry Clay Frick purchased all of the land surrounding the Block House in 1902, shortly before Schenley's death.<ref name="CLPgh Block House">{{cite web|url=http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/neighborhoods/point/point_n71.html|title=The Point: The Block House|publisher=Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh|access-date=July 15, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111205175951/http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/neighborhoods/point/point_n71.html|archive-date=December 5, 2011}}</ref> He offered the DAR $25,000 to move the Block House to Schenley Park; however, the DAR refused. Following lengthy litigation, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of the DAR and the Block House, enabling its continued preservation.<ref name="CLPgh Block House" />
==Current status== Although the Block House resides within the boundaries of Point State Park, it is owned and operated by the Fort Pitt Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.<ref name="Point State Park"/> The DAR allows visitors to the park to tour the structure.<ref name="Point State Park"/> The building is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places as being the sole surviving historical building in the "Forks of the Ohio (Site of Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt, Bouquet's Blockhouse)" historic place. It also has a historical marker issued by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania<ref name="Historical marker">{{cite web|url=http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-8A|title=Fort Pitt Block House Historical Marker|publisher=ExplorePAHistory.com|access-date=July 15, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602063125/http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-8A|archive-date=June 2, 2011}}</ref> and is a Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation designated Historic Landmark.<ref name="PHLFphoto"/>
==Maps and illustrations== <gallery> File:Fort Pitt in 1776.jpg|1776: The Block House is visible to the left of the fort's wall. File:Fort Pitt 1795 large.jpg|1795: The Block House is labeled as "Bouquet's Redoubt". File:Pittsburgh 1795 large.jpg|1795: The Block House is visible to the left of the fort's wall. File:FortPittBlockhouse1893.jpg|c. 1893: The Block House being used as a house File:FortPittBlockHousecirca1903.jpg|c. 1903: The Block House around the time it was given to the DAR File:Pittsburgh Volume 3 Plate 1.jpg|1900: A map of the Forks of the Ohio. The Block House is surrounded by other structures and listed on the map as being owned by the DAR and "presented by Mary Schenley". </gallery>
==Notes== <references group="note"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
== Further reading == * {{cite book |title=Pittsburgh Waste Book and Fort Pitt Trading Post Papers |publisher=ULS Archives Service Center University of Pittsburgh Library System|url= http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=ascead;cc=ascead;q1=General%20John%20Forbes;rgn=main;view=text;didno=US-PPiU-dar192503}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Fort Pitt Blockhouse}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090211043245/http://postgazette.com/pg/08280/917548-429.stm 360° panorama of the Block House exterior] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110527125325/http://postgazette.com/pg/08280/917212-429.stm 360° panorama of the Block House interior]
{{Pittsburgh}} {{Registered Historic Places}} {{Redoubts}}
Category:1764 establishments in Pennsylvania Category:Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Category:Blockhouses Category:Daughters of the American Revolution museums Blockhouse Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Pittsburgh Category:Military installations established in 1764 Category:Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks Category:Protected areas established in 1974 Category:Redoubts Category:Tourist attractions in Pittsburgh