Franklin, via a letter dated January 12, 1756 to Captain James Van Etten, ordered him to "proceed immediately to raise a Company of Foot, consisting of 30 able Men, including two Serjeants, with which you are to protect the Inhabitants of Upper Smithfield assisting them while they thresh out and secure their Corn, and scouting from time to time as you judge necessary on the Outside of the Settlements."[2]
The Fort was established on the farm of Nicholas Depuy, the first white settler of the area who arrived in 1727 and purchased 3,000 acres. In 1755 Franklin insisted that the Depuy home, because of its strategic location along the Delaware River, be commandeered to serve as a fort.[3]
Fort Depuy was constructed in the shape of a square with guns at each corner. The fort also served as a commissary base for the other forts in the area.
After 1763 the Fort was returned to the family and returned to its function as a farm.
The building now called Fort DePuy was built in 1785, after the French & Indian War. The site of the original stockade is slightly southwest, and no signs remain. [5]
