This passage was written by John A. DeMay and published in his 1997 book "The Settlers' Forts of Western Pennsylvania..."
Please note that the locations listed in this passage are private property, and should not be visited without landowner permission.
The location of this fort has some problems - there are two possible sites which are .4 miles apart and both on property known to have been owned by John McDonald.
McDonald came into this area in 1773 and took up a tract of land of 1,000 acres which he called "Mt. Pleasant." Shortly thereafter he purchased another 1000 acres on the westerly side of "Mt Pleasant" and near the present village or Primrose.
To reach these sites proceed to the town of McDonald. In the center of town there is a traffic light. At this light get on to State Rt. 980 N (Noblestown Road) and proceed for .3 miles. On the right (north) side of the road is a large and beautiful white house at 8018 Noblestown Road, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kim Darragh. Mr. Darragh was a prominent attorney in Pittsburgh, now retired. The house is situated on a plateau rising about thirty feet above the road. Robinson Run lies about two hundred yards to the south. This is Site No 1.
This lovely home marks one site declared by some authorities to be the location of the fort. As the photo shows, it sits on a large plateau which would have been required for a big fort. The third picture shows a good, level area for farming with Robinson Run in the tree line.
From this location continue westwardly on Noblestown Road. (Note: Route 980N turns right (north) shortly beyond the Darragh house and do not follow that road; proceed directly west on Noblestown Road). Continue westward for .4 miles from the Darragh home to Cooks Road. Turn right (north) on to Cooks Road and then immediately left onto a gravel drive which goes directly to the lovely red-brick home of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Ray Petrucci, 8606 Noblestown Road. This home is also located on a plateau above the road. Robinson Run is about 150 yards to the south, and on the east side of the house, perhaps 50 yards away, there is a small stream coming from the north which goes into Robinson Run. This is Site No.2.
This beautiful home was built in the 1830s by the son of John McDonald. It sits on a broad plateau overlooking Robinson Run.
This old log structure, to the rear of the house, was built between 1780 and 1820. McDonald was an Indian trader. Could this have been used to store furs?
Detail of the construction style used in building this structure.
Mr. A. D. White, a prominent historian, wrote in his "Historical Sketches of Northern Washington County" that the fort was at the Darragh home. Site 1.
Mrs. Erma Novak has lived in McDonald all of her life and is an expert on McDonald history, and she advises that it was at the Petrucci's home, Site 2.
The Petrucci home was built in the 1830's by a son of John McDonald. To the rear of the house, about 50 feet north, stands a small log structure about 10 feet square and obviously old. Photographs of it were submitted to Mr. Bruce Bomberger, architectural services section, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, for analysis, and he states that "it was probably built sometime during the period from the late 18th through the first several decades of the 19th centuries."
John McDonald served as a Justice of the Peace and was an Indian trader and he had buildings for these purposes. Could this small log building have been a storage place for furs taken in the trade with the Indians?
There is an interesting petition, dated April 5, 1782, and directed to General Irvine "Commandant on the western waters." It Is signed by John McDonald and nine other men. They had met that day at the house of John McDonald and advise that they have lived in a state of anarchy since 1777; that "we expect nothing else but that the Indians will be immediately amongst us;" that they are determined to make a stand there that summer and request ten men as a garrison plus rifles, powder, and lead. They extol the virtues of the fort and agree to store the supplies at no cost to the state:
"The situation of McDonald's place is pleasant, lying and being on a knoll or advantageous piece of ground for any garrison. We, the subscribers, observing that the states must have receiving and issuing stores, It is our opinion that according to McDonald's promise, we think it the best place for said stores. McDonald's promises are that the states shall have, without cost, his still-house, hogsheads, his cellar under his new house, together with the lowest story of his spring-house, without price or fee to the states."
Apparently they got the men because there is a record of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania dated February 18, 1790, approving payment "of Joseph Brown for one month's pay as a volunteer militia man, while stationed at one McDonald's, for the defense of the county of Washington, in Aug., 1782, amounting to five pounds. five shillings." (Poor Mr. Brown had to wait eight years for his money!)
A man named Spencer Records wrote a narrative of his life and he recalls that his family "forted" at McDonald's in 1778 and again from 1780 to 1782 when there were the "usual alarms and excursions on the Pennsylvania frontier."
We may fairly conclude that McDonald's Fort was a veritable bee-hive of activIty between settlers 'forting" there, soldiers stationed there, and John McDonald acting as both a Justice of the Peace and an Indian trader. To add to the excitement throw in eleven children - the progeny of John and his wife, Martha. It was a lively place.