Fort Defiance is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Augusta County Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Its count ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, United States. It is part of the Staunton– Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Augusta Stone Church Augusta Stone Church is a Presbyterian ( PCUSA) place of worship located in Augusta County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA in the unincorporated community of Fort Defiance. The church was one of two meeting houses established by The Congre ...

was established in the area now known as Fort Defiance in 1740. Local legend claims the church was used as a haven during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, when Augusta County was the western frontier for the country. The original church building was made of logs and, along with the historic cemetery, was located east of present-day U.S. Route 11 and to the rear of the stone church. Following the defeat of General

Edward Braddock Major-General Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe ...

at the

Battle of the Monongahela The Battle of the Monongahela (also known as the Battle of Braddock's Field and the Battle of the Wilderness) took place on 9 July 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War, at Braddock's Field in what is now Braddock, Pennsylvania, e ...

on 9 July 1755, parishioners fortified the Old Stone Presbyterian Church and named the fortification Fort Defiance.Reynolds, William R., Jr., ''Andrew Pickens: South Carolina Patriot in the Revolutionary War,'' Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co, 2012
/ref> The name Fort Defiance was not put on the community until the late 19th century.

Sites of interest

Augusta Military Academy The Augusta Military Academy (AMA) was a secondary education military academy in Fort Defiance, Virginia, United States. The school was established in by Confederate veteran Charles Summerville Roller as the Augusta Male Academy and formally beca ...

, a now-defunct military academy that was one of the first in the nation to adopt the JROTC program and site of historical marke
VA-A100 Augusta Military Academy
*

, the oldest Presbyterian Church in continuous use in Virginia; * Historical Marke
VA-A99 Willow Spout
a willow tree planted in the mid-19th century over a spring so that water was driven out a spout driven in the tree's side into a wooden trough;

Education

Fort Defiance is served by Augusta County Public Schools. Clymore Elementary School, Stewart Middle School and Fort Defiance High School are within the unincorporated area's boundaries.

References

Unincorporated communities in Augusta County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia {{AugustaCountyVA-geo-stub