Winchester, Braddock, and Fort Loudoun

Today we were in Winchester for a holiday-themed house tour. I spotted this church, the Braddock Street United Methodist Church. Braddock Street is named for General Edward Braddock who came through Winchester during the French and Indian War (1755).

 A short time later we ran into more history related to the French and Indian War.  A house on the tour is on the site of a bastion of Fort Loudoun. Some people in period uniforms were there to tell us a little about the fort, which no longer exists except for a well behind a white house across the street. Fort Loudoun was designed by Col. George Washington as one of a series of forts to protect settlers against the French and their Indian allies. The British (we were still British then) also had Indian allies, and they moved through town on a road now named Indian Alley.

Text of the Fort Loudoun Plaque:

In 1756, during the French and Indian War, Col. George Washington proposed, designed, and supervised construction of the largest and most formidable fort on Virginia’s colonial frontier. Equipped with 24 pieces of artillery, the fort served as Col. Washington’s command center for the Virginia Regiment and a chain of defenses that extended from the Potomac River to the North Carolina border. Situated on the high ground north of town, the fort overlooked and protected the developing community. Directly behind this marker is the fort’s surviving well dug through 103 feet of solid limestone.