July 4th: Fourth at the Fort Festivities

The Fort Pitt Museum, part of the Heinz History Center’s family of museums, will host its annual Fourth at the Fort festivities in Point State Park on Tuesday, July 4.

At 1 p.m., colonial reenactors, local scouts, and veterans will help raise a 36-foot American flag and kick off the Fourth of July holiday in the city of Pittsburgh. The ceremony will commence in the Fort Pitt Block House yard thanks to an ongoing partnership with the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, owners of the Fort Pitt Block House – the oldest building in the region. Visitors can watch museum staff symbolically lower a British ensign and help raise a 36-foot, 13-star Garrison flag, one of several early patterns that may have flown over Fort Pitt during the American Revolution. The ceremony will conclude with the singing of the National Anthem.

After the patriotic flag raising ceremony, visitors can enjoy a family-friendly afternoon of living history demonstrations. Visitors can throw tomahawks, learn about Pittsburgh’s role during the American Revolution, and see costumed interpreters reenact 18th-century life at Fort Pitt.