Kelly Linn pointed out two notches worn into one of the original joists supporting the second floor of the Fort Pitt Block House.

A ladder once provided access to the upper story of the brick-and-stone structure, the oldest building in Pittsburgh. The notches were made when the barrels of soldiers' muskets -- slung on their shoulders -- struck the wood as they climbed up to their posts, she explained.

Ms. Linn is curator of the five-sided block house, which was built in 1764 by Col. Henry Bouquet. It was part of the fortifications constructed around Fort Pitt in the closing days of Pontiac's War.

Pontiac's War, named after an Ottawa chief, followed immediately after the French and Indian War. It was an unsuccessful attempt by Native American tribes in the Great Lakes region and the Ohio Valley to drive British troops, traders and settlers from the area. During the conflict, several Indian tribes surrounded Fort Pitt, raising their siege only after their allies were defeated at the Battle of Bushy Run in August 1763.

Over the next 244 years, the block house was used as a trading post, residence and small store. Since 1894 it has been a museum.

Located in Point State Park, the block house is one of several places with links to Pittsburgh's earliest days. This November marks the 250th anniversary of the naming of Pittsburgh by British Gen. John Forbes.

His army cut a road across the Pennsylvania wilderness in a military expedition to drive the French from Fort Duquesne at the Forks of the Ohio. Control of that spot was one of the major British goals during the French and Indian War.

The nearby Fort Pitt Museum is built on the site of the fort's Monongahela Bastion. Both the Fort Pitt Museum and the Sen. John Heinz History Center in the Strip District have extensive displays dealing with the French and Indian War.

While Gen. Forbes triumphed at the Point -- the French blew up and abandoned Fort Duquesne without a fight on Nov. 24, 1758 -- the British victory was not bloodless.

Grant Street -- less than a mile from the Point -- is inexplicably named for Major James Grant, a British officer who turned a reconnaissance mission into a military disaster on Sept. 14, 1758. Grant was captured after the one-sided defeat that saw the near-destruction of the British 77th Highland Regiment and other units by a smaller Indian and French force.

While the exact route is still subject to debate, historians agree that Gen. Forbes' army passed through what is now Boyce Park in Plum on its approach to Fort Duquesne. A walk along many of the narrow hiking trails in the hilly, heavily wooded park provides some idea of what the topography and vegetation were like 250 years ago.

Fort Pitt Block House

Most of the bricks, beams and rafters in the block house, also known as Bouquet's Redoubt, date to the 1760s, according to Ms. Linn.

When first constructed, the building would have been taller, making it easier to defend. The ground outside has risen with the accumulation of about 24 inches of soil and debris over the past two centuries, while the floor inside now is about 18 inches above its original height.

Visitors still need to stand on firing steps inside the block house to peer out through the same firing slits that British soldiers and Colonial militiamen used when they were on duty. Since the blockhouse was built after the last major Indian attack on Fort Pitt, its effectiveness as a defense was never tested.

The building has been owned and administered by the Fort Pitt Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution for more than a century.

Fort Pitt Museum

One of the oldest displays in the Fort Pitt Museum remains one of the most popular, according to museum educator Doug MacGregor.

The 10-foot by 10-foot model in the museum's first-floor foyer was built according to the original plans for the fort found in British archives in London. The display makes use of small spotlights and pre-recorded sound to tell the story of what was the largest British fortress in North America.

Also on the first floor is a full-size model of a trading post, its counters and walls covered with red and black blankets, hatchets, lanterns and muskets. Hanging from its rafters are examples of the animal pelts that Indians brought in to trade for manufactured goods, gunpowder, lead shot and steel knives.

The museum's second floor has a permanent exhibit devoted to the century-long struggle for control of the Forks of the Ohio. Items include the Brown Bess muskets used by the British, a rare French drum and sword, decorated powder horns and Indian weaponry.

Heinz History Center

When visitors get off the elevator on the fifth floor of the Sen. John Heinz History Center, they are greeted by the Half-King Tanaghrisson. If they push a button on the base of the life-size figure, visitors can hear his warning to newcomers in English, French or Seneca: "We live in a country between. Therefore, the land does not belong to one or the other. But the Great Being above allowed [the Forks of the Ohio] to be a place of residence for us. So, Fathers, I desire you to depart."

The model of Tanaghrisson was made by British-Swiss artist Gerry Embleton for the history center's "Clash of Empires" exhibit in 2005. After stops in Ottawa and Washington, a portion of that show, including all of Embleton's life-size figures, returned to the Strip District museum.

Seated near Tanaghrisson, a dejected young George Washington, surrounded by French and Indian attackers, prepares to surrender at Fort Necessity. Suspended above the museum's multistory atrium, a French militiaman and a Native American warrior carry a 24-foot canoe.

Boyce Park

The Pennsylvania historical marker in front of the Boyce Park office in Plum tells visitors that Forbes Road and Bouquet's breastworks, "the last base of Gen. John Forbes' army," were built nearby.

Local residents have long believed that Forbes Road eventually became Old Frankstown Road, which forms part of the southern border of the park.

Recent research indicates that the trail more likely passed farther north, near the 1820 Carpenter Log House on Pierson Run Road.

Whatever the exact route, visitors don't have to travel far into the Allegheny County park to get a sense of the 18th century.

Take any of the hiking trails near the Carpenter cabin, and soon the sound of traffic is replaced by the rat-a-tat of woodpeckers searching for insects. Narrow paths curve and disappear behind a tangle of thick brush and trees.

Boyce Park offers a taste of the natural beauty and wildness that Forbes' troops would have found in their march to the Forks of the Ohio.