Fort Van Meter

Fort Van Meter — or Fort VanMeter — is a mid-18th century frontier fort in the South Branch Potomac River Valley about southwest of Romney in Hampshire County, West Virginia, USA. It is located northeast of Moorefield and about a mile northeast of the former community of Glebe at the northern end of the rugged river gorge known as The Trough.Fort Van Meter, a small rectangular stone building erected around 1754 for the protection of white settlers against hostile Indians of the Delaware and Shawnee tribes, is still standing and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) since 2009.DescriptionFort Van Meter is a small rectangular building constructed of uncoursed local stone and surmounted by a pitched and side-gabled roof. (The roof's presently exposed rafters and cedar shake shingles were reconstructed in 1987.) Its floor measures about 19.6 feet by 13.8 feet. The walls are about 15 inches thick and feature several firing ports (loopholes) to allow defense of the fort by musket fire. (These are about 6-12 inches high and 2-3 inches wide.)