Fort Ohio was a stockade fort erected by Job Pearsall in 1749 on the present site of Ridgeley, West Virginia. The building was of log construction, 45 feet (14 m) long and 25 feet (7.6 m) wide, with two stories. Its name comes from the Ohio Company which did have a trading post at that location. The Ohio Company found success because a trail across the Allegheny Mountains from the Potomac River at Cumberland to near modern-day Pittsburgh offered a direct route to the Ohio River.