A Bethel Park group suggested Fort Couch as a topic for an upcoming historical presentation. That appealed to me, and I am in the process of researching it this month.

A good starting point is Nathaniel Couch, who is credited with building “Couch's Fort” on his farm “Titlenure.”

Information regarding Mr. Couch is plentiful, but contradictory. A Couch family genealogical site reports that Nathaniel Couch was a Virginian whose first visit to Western Pennsylvania was as a member of the Virginia troops who were part of Braddock's campaign in 1755.

Another genealogical site records that Mr. Couch was born in 1730 and that he married Abigail (last name unknown) in 1748. He died in 1802 and is buried in the Bethel Church Cemetery. The Couches had four sons and three daughters. It also reports that he returned to this area in 1784 and purchased 366 acres of land in what is now Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park townships. This area was opened up for settlers in 1768.

An excellent source of information regarding local history in the 18th century is “The Settlers' Forts of Western Pennsylvania” written by John DeMay in 1997. DeMay believes that Couch “came here to stay in 1769.”

He reports that Couch entered a claim for 400 acres with the Virginia Land Office in 1780 and that the land was surveyed in 1786. He is reported to have received his deed from Pennsylvania in 1786.

The Allegheny County Warrantee Atlas does not list Mr. Couch as an original warrantee for any property in this area. The specific site on which Couch's Fort and Bethel Church are located is warranted to Reverend John Clark. The warrant is dated October 7, 1784 and includes 120 acres and ninety six perches. The property is named “Plain Truth.”

We know that the Bethel Presbyterian Church is descended from the original Peters Creek congregation, which was founded by the Rev. John McMillan in 1776. It split into two churches in 1785; one of which was the Bethel Church with the Rev. John Clark as pastor. Other sources report that the church location was on a small plot donated by Nathaniel Couch.

As for the fort itself, we have no details or description of it.

We suspect however that Couch's fort was primarily a large, rugged cabin in the center of a large clearing. Such strongholds were common throughout Western Pennsylvania in colonial times and served as gathering places for neighbors in times of danger.

Fort Couch was located on what is now Fort Couch Road, east of South Hills Village. When the original building was torn down, the Fort Couch Inn, later known as Pioneer Inn, was constructed on its foundation. The site is now the location of a McDonald's restaurant.

Although we have no record of any Indian attacks on Fort Couch, it did find a place in history during the Whiskey Rebellion. On July 15, 1794 Federal Marshal David Lenox, accompanied by General John Neville, the federal tax inspector, was unsuccessful in his attempt to serve a writ on local farmer/distiller Oliver Miller, summoning him to an appearance in federal court in Philadelphia.

The departure of Lenox and Neville from the Miller farm was accompanied by several warning shots. The next day 30 militiamen surrounded Neville's mansion, Bower Hill, as a show of protest. Miller was killed by a shot from inside the mansion. The protesters then retreated to Fort Couch to gather reinforcements. The next day, more than 600 rebels left Fort Couch and attacked Bower Hill.

The battle ended with three or four deaths, and Bower Hill burned to the ground. The Whiskey Rebellion was under way, and Fort Couch appears to have been the headquarters for the rebels.

Nathaniel Couch was probably too old in 1794 to be a leader of the Whiskey Rebels; perhaps one of his sons filled that role.

John Oyler is a columnist for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-343-1652 or joylerpa@icloud.com.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---