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In 1753, Scots-Irish Presbyterians and German Lutherans, who had originally settled in Pennsylvania, began arriving in what would become Statesville in 1789 to plant crops in the fertile soil where game and water were also plentiful. The settlement, known as Fourth Creek Congregation, was named for the freshwater stream running to the north of the present-day city center, the fourth creek west of the neighboring settlement of Salisbury. The center of the settlement was a log cabin where the Presbyterians worshiped and where the First Presbyterian Church is located today. In 1755, colonial governor Arthur Dobbs authorized the construction of the colony's frontier fort, which was located approximately 3 miles (5 km) due north of the Fourth Creek settlement. Built and garrisoned by North Carolina provincial soldiers, Fort Dobbs defended British North America's western frontier in the colony of North Carolina during the French and Indian War and Anglo-Cherokee War.