Redstone Old Fort – Spring 1759
Redstone Old Fort or Redstone Fort or (for a short time when built) Fort Burd was built by Pennsylvania Militia Colonel James Burd to guard the Nemocolin Trail’s river ford; a trail long used by the American Indians that connected the watersheds of the Potomac River with the Monongahela River. It was built on an ancient mound overlooking the eastern shore of the Monongahela River in what is now Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania near, or (more likely) on the banks of Dunlap’s Creek at the confluence. During Lord Dunmore’s war against the Mingo and Shawnee tribes in 1774, it was occupied by Capt. Michael Cresap to prevent the local Shawnee from controlling it.