Fort Laughlin | |
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in United States | |
Type | American Civil War redoubt |
Site information | |
Controlled by | Union Army |
Site history | |
Built | 1863 |
Fort Laughlin was a Civil War redoubt, built in 1863 for the defense of Pittsburgh by the employees of Jones and Laughlin Iron Works, and named for James H. Laughlin. It was also known as Fort McKinley or Fort Ormsby. [1] [2] It was a circular earthwork on Ormsby's Hill, now part of Arlington Park on Arlington Avenue. [3] 40°25′07″N79°58′30″W / 40.41861°N 79.97500°W [4]
Built along the bluffs of the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1863 by Jones and Laughlin Iron Works [5] in response to the threatened invasion of Pennsylvania by the Confederate States Army, this circular, earthen, Civil War redoubt was also known as "Fort McKinley" or "Fort Ormsby." [1] [2] It was located on Ormsby's Hill in what is now Arlington Park, which is located on Arlington Avenue and is bordered by Fernleaf, Salisbury, Sterling, and Fort Hill streets. [3] [4]
No remains of the structure were evident as of 2019.
North Braddock is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Monongahela River. The 2020 census had the borough population at 4,320. It is a suburb 11 miles (18 km) east of Pittsburgh. Organized from a part of Braddock Township in 1897, the borough prides itself in being the "Birthplace of Steel" as the home of Andrew Carnegie's Edgar Thomson Steel Works that opened in 1875.
The history of Pittsburgh began with centuries of Native American civilization in the modern Pittsburgh region, known as "Dionde:gâ'" in the Seneca language. Eventually, European explorers encountered the strategic confluence where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio, which leads to the Mississippi River. The area became a battleground when France and Great Britain fought for control in the 1750s. When the British were victorious, the French ceded control of territories east of the Mississippi.
Greenfield is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is represented on Pittsburgh City Council by Barb Warwick.
Hazelwood is a neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is represented on Pittsburgh City Council by Barb Warwick. It is bordered by Greenfield and Oakland on the north, Squirrel Hill and Glen Hazel on the east, and the Monongahela River on the south and west. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire houses 13 Engine and 13 Truck in Hazelwood.
A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a hastily constructed temporary fortification. The word means "a place of retreat". Redoubts were a component of the military strategies of most European empires during the colonial era, especially in the outer works of Vauban-style fortresses made popular during the 17th century, although the concept of redoubts has existed since medieval times. A redoubt differs from a redan in that the redan is open in the rear, whereas the redoubt was considered an enclosed work.
The Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, also known as J&L Steel or simply as J&L, was an American steel and iron manufacturer that operated from 1852 until 1968. Beginning as the American Iron Company, founded in 1852 by Bernard Lauth and Benjamin Franklin Jones, a few miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. Lauth's interest was bought in 1854 by James Laughlin. The first firm to bear the name of Jones and Laughlin was organized in 1861, and headquartered at Third & Ross in downtown Pittsburgh.
The South Side Flats is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side area. It is located just south of the Monongahela River. The neighborhood has one of the City of Pittsburgh's largest concentrations of 19th-century homes, which has prompted outsiders to call the neighborhood the City's Georgetown. It includes many bars and restaurants as well as residences. The main throughway in the South Side Flats is East Carson Street. The street is home to a significant portion of Pittsburgh's nightlife.
During the American Civil War, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania played a critical role in the Union, providing a substantial supply of military personnel, equipment, and leadership to the Federal government. The state raised over 360,000 soldiers for the Federal armies. It served as a significant source of artillery guns, small arms, ammunition, armor for the new revolutionary style of ironclad types of gunboats for the rapidly expanding United States Navy, and food supplies. The Phoenixville Iron Company by itself produced well over 1,000 cannons, and the Frankford Arsenal was a major supply depot.
Braddock's Field is a historic battlefield on the banks of the Monongahela River, at Braddock, Pennsylvania, near the junction of Turtle Creek, about nine miles southeast of the "Forks of the Ohio" in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1755, the Battle of the Monongahela was fought on Braddock's Field, which ended the Braddock Expedition.
The Edgar Thomson Steel Works is a steel mill in the Pittsburgh area communities of Braddock and North Braddock, Pennsylvania. It has been active since 1875. It is currently owned by U.S. Steel and is known as Mon Valley Works – Edgar Thomson Plant.
South Side Slopes is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side area. The neighborhood comprises the hills from the South Side Flats neighborhood along the Monongahela River from the Liberty Bridge (west) to beyond Josephine Street (east).
Fort Jones, with its companion, Fort Laughlin were Civil War redoubts, built by the employees of Jones and Laughlin Steel in June and July 1863 for the defense of Pittsburgh from a suspected invasion by Confederate troops. It is named for Benjamin Franklin Jones, a local businessman. Fort Jones occupied the top of a hill in Mount Oliver, Pennsylvania. It was destroyed in 1868, and became the site of St. Joseph's Church at 438 Ormsby Street, for which the site was originally purchased. The church is now closed. It was sometimes known as Fort Jackson, in honor of Brig. General Conrad Feger Jackson, killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December 1862. 40°24′45″N79°58′50″W
Fort Robert Smalls was a Civil War redoubt built by free blacks for the defense of Pittsburgh in 1863.
Becks Run is a tributary of the Monongahela River. As an urban stream, it is heavily polluted, receiving combined sewer outflow from Carrick (Pittsburgh) and Mount Oliver, Pennsylvania. There is a waterfall on a tributary, just downstream from a slate dump, near the intersection of Wagner Avenue and Mountain Avenue. There were coal mines along the stream, including Becks Run #2, owned by the estate of James H. Hays, served by an incline and the H.B. Hays and Brothers Coal Railroad. Other mines at various times were operated by the Birmingham Coal Company, H.G. Burghman, Jones & Laughlin, and the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company.
John Ormsby (1720–1805) was a soldier in the French and Indian War, Pontiac's Rebellion, and the American Revolution, and among the first settlers of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The son of the Anglo-Irish landed gentry, he emigrated from Ireland to the Thirteen Colonies in 1752. After Pontiac's Rebellion, he received a land grant from King George III, and established a homestead on the banks of the Monongahela River. He established extensive economic and merchant interests in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and at the head of the Ohio River.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was a thriving and important city during the American Civil War, and provided a significant source of personnel, war materiel, armament, ammunition, and supplies to the Union Army. Situated at the confluence of the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers, Pittsburgh was an important transportation hub for both riverine and rail transport, as well as overland via its system of roads.
The Keeling Coal Company (1861–1878) was a 19th-century coal mining company in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Its mines were located in the Pittsburgh Coalfield of western Pennsylvania.
Fort Willard is a former Union Army installation now located in the Belle Haven area of Fairfax County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is currently undergoing preservation treatment to protect its earthen walls and trenches.
Fort O'Rourke is a former Union Army installation now located in the Belle Haven area of Fairfax County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It was the southernmost fort built to defend Washington, D.C. in the American Civil War.