Work is underway to replace the fort walls at Historic Hanna’s Town.
The new wall will be a replica of the current 27-year-old structure, but with fresh logs and 21st century methods.
The current log structure, erected in 1998, has taken a beating from the elements over nearly three decades.
The contractor is installing y 441 linear feet of debarked larch logs standing 16 feet tall. Logs are put into the ground vertically in a row, also known as a palisade, resulting in a wall 8 to 11 feet tall. The fort is generally a square, except for three bastions that allowed those inside to defend it.
Larch is a deciduous conifer that grows in cold climates of the Northern Hemisphere, such as Siberia, Canada and the Pacific Northwest.
The existing wooden gate will not be affected by the work.
Hanna’s Town was established in 1773 as the first seat of government in Westmoreland County. It became the site of the first courts west of the Allegheny Mountains and an oasis for travelers and settlers.
Hanna’s Town was attacked and burned in 1782, but the fort still stood, protecting those inside from Seneca and their British allies.
It’s not clear what ultimately happened to the original structure, but archaeological investigation of the 180-acre site, now a county park, uncovered remnants of the fort walls. It was first reconstructed in 1976 and later 1998, now measuring 69 feet wide and about 123 feet long, according to information compiled by the society.