Fort Allen was a military structure built in Franklin Township (in what is now Weissport), in Carbon County, Pennsylvania in 1756. It was first of several frontier defenses erected by Benjamin Franklin for the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War.
Benjamin Franklin and his militia troops built Fort Allen in January 1756 after Moravian Indians were chased from Gnadenhutten near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. In a letter, Franklin says the name Fort Allen was chosen "in Honor of our old Friend," Chief Justice William Allen.
Two Pennsylvania state historical markers commmemorate Fort Allen: one along U.S. 209 in Franklin Township near Wachovia Bank, and another in Weissport Borough Park opposite 112-116 Franklin St. A stone monument erected in 1922 in the same park reads:
"Erected by Col. Benjamin Franklin in the winter of 1758 at the order of the Province of Pennsylvania. The fort consisting of the two block houses and a well, surrounded by a stockade, was situated 201 feet southwest of this spot. It was used as a base of supplies and as a rendezvous for troops during the period of the French and Indian Wars. The well is the only trace left of the fort."
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