Russell's Fort

Russell's Fort is a Virginia historical marker in Russell County, dedicated 2025.

Red Oak Ridge Road just north of intersection with Reeds Valley Road

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

Conflict between Native Americans and settlers in the Ohio Country intensified early in the 1770s and reverberated in southwestern Virginia. In 1774, Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, recommended the construction of fortifications to protect settlements along the Clinch River. Russell’s Fort was immediately built near here. Capt. William Russell, later a Revolutionary War officer, commanded militia in the lower Clinch Valley and used this fort as his base. Russell County, formed in 1786, was named for him. During a series of Indian wars that concluded in the 1790s, the fort remained an important outpost and was attacked several times.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

1776 · Carte nouvelle de l'Amérique Angloise contenant tout ce que les Anglois possédent sur… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1796 · Kentuckey. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower left sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1818 · Map of Virginia, 1818 (lower left sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1818 · Kentucky. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Kentuckey, 1796, covering the location of Russell's Fort, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Kentuckey, 1796, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Russell's Fort

Historical maps covering this location

More markers nearby