My Favorite Forts:

Reminiscences of Fort-Hunting

by


Robert E. Duchesneau

This is a memoir of my life-long hobby of poking around old forts. I have tried to highlight the most interesting forts or those with one-of-a-kind features, such as artillery left in place. This is not an exhaustive list, but will serve as a guide to what the determined fort-hunter can find. Look around this site for further information on many of these forts. For a complete list of Endicott and later batteries, go to the Coast Defense Study Group website. When I say a fort is accessible by boat, I mean it is accessible if you can beach your boat. Most fort islands don't have piers.


New England Region

Fort Knox, Maine

About 100 miles northeast along the coast from Portland is Ft. Knox, near Bucksport. It is an all-granite fort with unusually good defenses against land attack (basically, two layers of wall-to-wall cannon). There are a mounted 15-inch Rodman and 10-inch Rodman, and an unmounted 15-inch Rodman and 8-inch "converted" rifle. A "must see" if you're going to Bar Harbor or Bangor.


Portland, Maine

This is a fort-hunter's paradise, especially if you have a boat. The Endicott forts are the easiest to get to.

My personal favorite, the one I grew up with, is Fort Williams, on the same site as the famous Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth. This had 9 large and 3 small Endicott emplacements. Unfortunately, five of them have been buried under mounds of earth for the protection of visitors. Two or three officers' quarters are still in use for various purposes on site.

Many more late 19th century buildings are at Ft. Preble in South Portland, now the site of the Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute. Ft Preble has fortifications from three different eras. There is a partial wall of a never-completed Third System work, an 1860's earthen battery for heavy guns, and some Endicott 6" emplacements. Visible from Ft. Preble are Ft. Scammell on House Island, and Ft. Gorges, which rises straight up out of the water. You'll need a boat if you wish to visit these last two. Ft. Gorges has a 10" Parrott rifle, definitely worth the effort.

Accessible by ferry in the harbor are Peaks Island (a 16" battery) and Great Diamond Island (5-6 disappearing mounts, plus mortars, plus officers' quarters). A 12" casemated battery, plus Endicott batteries, are on Cushing's Island, but this island is not open to the public.

At the eastern tip of the City of Portland is the Eastern Promenade, featuring several historic relics on the site of a Civil War earthen battery called Fort Allen. There are two Civil War 4.5" siege guns, a 6" gun salvaged from the USS Maine, and the foremast of the USS Portland from WWII.


Portsmouth, New Hampshire

There are only a few forts here, but all are noteworthy and are public parks. Forts Constitution (now a Coast Guard base) and Stark (Third System/Endicott) and Fort Dearborn (16" and 6", now the Seacoast Science Center) are on the south side of the harbor entrance, and Fort McClary (Second System) is on the north side. Also on the north side is the Endicott Fort Foster(partly buried, but well preserved). Fort Stark is worth a look if you can find it. It's a twin 12" battery on the southeast tip of the island Ft. Constitution is on. Battery Seaman at Ft. Dearborn is well worth the one-mile hike on a path through the woods.


Boston Harbor

The forts around Boston are all rather hard to find, as they are either on the islands in the harbor or on the various points of land extending into the harbor. The best Third System forts are Fort Constitution (mainland) and Fort Warren (island). Fort Warren was updated with an Endicott battery. Hull features an octagonal observation tower made to resemble a lighthouse, and a 16" battery on an island that is now a "gated community". More accessible is Fort Revere, a battery of 5 6" guns on top of the western point of the Hull peninsula. To the north of these are more Endicott batteries on the island (with bridge) that houses a state hospital, but this is not open to the public.

Almost completely buried (to prevent injury to visitors) in Winthrop are Fort Banks (12" mortars, one pit open) and Fort Heath (12" guns, nothing visible). There are a 16" and a 12" batteries in Nahant, one on a college complex that also served as a Nike missile site. Fort Banks was a command center for the Nike system, also.


New Bedford, Massachusetts

There are only a few works in this area, but they are choice. The main one is Fort Rodman, a small three-tier Third System fort in the park of the same name. Nearby is a covered 12" battery that resembles a 16" battery. Across the river in Fairhaven is Ft. Phoenix, an open Third System battery with five re-mounted 24-pdr guns. There is a British 6-pdr gun here, said to be from the US Marines' first raid on New Providence (now Paradise Island)in the Bahamas during the American Revolution. The weapon is also unusual in that the trunnions have been replaced after being cut off to prevent the weapon's use.


Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island

This is an area rich in forts of all eras. A good place to start is at Fort Greene, at Point Judith. This has two 16" batteries, one of which is in a public park. It would be one of the more accessible 16" emplacements for the casual tourist, but it is now densely overgrown. There's also a 6" turret battery and a beach-house style spotting tower near the Point Judith lighthouse. Several miles to the north are two 6" and one 3" batteries at the URI R&D center.

Across the bridge in Jamestown is a real "jackpot", Fort Wetherill State Park with about 12 emplacements of all calibers up to 12". In the bay to the west is Dutch Island, containing a mortar battery and some other positions. Fort Getty is now an RV park, with the emplacements almost completely buried. At the southernmost tip of Jamestown is a 6" turret battery, a 3" battery, and an observation complex disguised as a seaside mansion. It's easy to spot due to the radar antenna in the yard.

Across the next bridge is Newport, home of Fort Adams. This is the second largest masonry fortification in the U.S., and features an excellent guided tour.

To the south of the main fort are several Endicott batteries. Hard to get to in Little Compton, buried, and on private property, is Fort Church. This had a twin 16" and a twin 8" batteries, identical in appearance to Fort Greene.


Long Island Sound

The islands east of Long Island and south of New London, Connecticut are full of forts. The premiere site is Great Gull Island, about halfway between Orient Point (the NE tip of Long Island) and Fisher's Island (due south of Groton, Conn.). The island is accessible by boat. This has the only 16-inch disappearing emplacement ever constructed, and it was designed for all-around fire as well. Although older than other 16-inch weapons, it was truly a monster. My recollection is that the emplacement is three times the size of any other Endicott gun pit in every dimension, even compared to the 12-inch pits. Well worth the trip if you have the boat and the time.

Fisher's Island is also worth touring. Although the 16" battery (visible from the water) is on a Naval reservation, other batteries are publicly accessible. The "hill" with the "hut" on it at the western end of the island is the easiest to spot. This was a 6" turret battery. There are a few disappearing gun pits to the northeast of the airport.

There are also 16" batteries on Montauk Point, the east tip of Long Island. For those without a boat, there is one fort each in New London and Groton, both about a mile south of the I-95 bridge. The one in Groton is Ft. Griswold, adjacent to a large obelisk commemorating a battle fought there in the Revolutionary War. It's a well-preserved First System earthwork with a Third System light battery down near the water. Fort Trumbull is in New London. It's probably a Second System fort. It's worth a look despite the fact that it is not open to the public (it can be seen from the gate). There is a pair of mounted 10" Rodmans to observe. Fortunately, plans are in the works to open the fort to the public in the next few years. If you insist on seein EVERY Endicott fort, go to Watch Hill, RI. There's an Endicott battery called Fort Mansfield on the far end of the spit of land there, but it's quite a hike.


Mid Atlantic Region

New York City Area

Forts Schuyler and Totten are 3rd System forts located at either end of the Throgs Neck Bridge. Ft. Schuyler is the home of the New York State Maritime Academy, and has been fully refurbished as an office building and maritime museum. There's even a chapel with stained glass in the gunports. Ft. Totten is on a publicly accessible Army post, and was only partially completed. The curator is an old coast artilleryman and is very knowledgeable about the fort and the coast artillery. There's a well-preserved set of Endicott gun pits, but they are not open to the public.

New York Harbor

The forts defending New York have, of course, always been the most extensive in the country.

The oldest is Castle Clinton in Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan. This fort used to be an island, but the surrounding area was filled in. The star fort that serves as the foundation for the Statue of Liberty was part of the Second System of about 1800. Three unique Third System forts are located flanking the Narrows under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. On the Staten Island (west) side is Battery Weed, one of only two 4-deck forts in the country (the other one is Fort Winfield Scott under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco).

Battery Weed is located on Fort Wadsworth, which recently became a national park. The battery should soon be opened to the public, with a fully remounted 10-inch Rodman on display. On a bluff behind Battery Weed is Fort Tompkins, a long, narrow redoubt built to protect Battery Weed from a land attack. There are also Endicott batteries on the base, one of which is about 50% demolished, with the others being buried and overgrown. And there are two long earthen 1870's batteries, partly built on by Endicott batteries and partly buried.

On the Brooklyn side is Fort Hamilton, which is open to the public. This is an oval fort, a rare type in this country. Only half of the oval still exists. The other half was demolished to make room for two Endicott 12-inch disappearing gun pits, one of which serves today as the officers' swimming pool, the fort itself being the officers' club. At the north gate of the base is a 12" Navy gun of 1906. In a park just outside the gate is an almost-unique 20" Rodman gun weighing 50 tons. Ammunition for the piece is stacked around it. The only other one of these weapons is at Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

Not now open to the public except for occasional guided tours, but with a fort that has a mounted 15" Rodman, is Governor's Island, a recently closed Coast Guard base. Its future is currently undetermined, but it may include public access.

There is a pair of 16-inch emplacements on the south shore of Long Island, at Ft. Tilden in Far Rockaway.

Sandy Hook, New Jersey (formerly Ft. Hancock) is a long way by road from anywhere else, but a short way from Brooklyn by boat. This was a test range in the Endicott era, and has a lineup of about 9 disappearing emplacements, plus a fully enclosed battery of 16 12-inch mortars. There is a mounted 6" Endicott pedestal gun, and the 20" Rodman mentioned earlier. I seem to recall a 16" emplacement or two, but I can't remember for sure. The CDSG indicates these were actually 12".

Fort Ticonderoga, New York

This famous fort is in a rather isolated location a few miles south of Lake Champlain in upstate New York. But it is a must see for historic cannon buffs. There are more cannon here than any other single site I've visited. Most are French and Spanish bronze pieces, some are British, and at least one was made for the American Revolution in Philadelphia. It is well known how Ethan Allen and his "Green Mountain Boys" captured the fort and sent the precious artillery to General Washington at Boston. A few years later, the British re-captured the fort as part of their offensive from Canada that ended at Saratoga. Ten miles to the north is a partly ruined stone fort at Crown Point, and about thirty miles to the southwest is Fort William Henry, a reconstructed log fort of the French and Indian War.


West Point, New York

The US Military Academy has a large 19th-Century cannon collection and maintains an excellent military museum. It's on the west bank of the Hudson River between NYC and Newburgh, just follow Rte. 9.


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