Fort Hunter was one in a series of small forts the British built from Harris Ferry (Harrisburg) to Fort Augusta in Sunbury, to help counter the mounting threat American Indian attacks during the French and Indian War. Six miles north of Harris Ferry, it was ideally situated on a bluff at a bend in the Susquehanna River, thereby serving as an alarm station and supply depot. The Fort was a 10′ by 14′ log blockhouse surrounded by a stockade and manned by volunteer soldiers, mostly farmers’ sons. In 1763, following the defeat of the Indian Nations, the Fort was left to decay.