Near this site stood successive military posts that secured a vital point on the main route between Pittsburgh and Lake Erie. French Fort LeBeouf, built in 1753, was abandoned in 1759. British Fort LeBoeuf, built in 1760, was destroyed by Native Americans in 1763. In 1794, Pennsylvania and Federal soldiers built a fort, succeeded in 1797 by a U.S. Army blockhouse. After Waterford was founded, the post was maintained to protect settlers on the frontier. The plaza represents the form of the 1797 blockhouse foundation, and archaeological excavations performed by Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute in the summer of 2000 confirmed the dimensions of the building.