Digging during Point State Park renovation work has unearthed the remains of a drainage system that apparently once serviced Fort Duquesne in the mid-1700s, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officials announced today.

Unearthed recently during an exploratory dig in preparation for electrical line installation at the park, the drain is believed to be part of a series of brick-lined channels drawing water away from a storehouse or munitions magazine built in a south outwork of Fort Duquesne, the fortification established by the French in 1754. The fort was destroyed by the French as the British advanced in 1758 during the French and Indian War. The British, in turn, built Fort Pitt between 1759 and 1761.

Lying roughly 2 to 4 feet below the surface, the drain is lined with hand-made bricks, constructed of four courses of brick, and capped with sandstone slabs. It is located about 40 feet south of where Fort Duquesne is believed to have stood.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.