Fort McGilvray

Last updated September 18, 2024

Fort McGilvray was a United States military fortification located on Caines Head, a cliff 650 feet above Resurrection Bay south of Seward, Alaska. The United States Army established a series of defensive positions along the coast of the bay during World War II to defend Seward against a possible Japanese invasion. The bay was a strategically important location, as it remained ice-free throughout the year, and Seward served as the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad, an important route for transporting civilian and military supplies throughout the territory.^[1]

Defense of the bay prior to the war consisted of four mobile 155-mm guns. The earliest constructions at Caines Head and South Beach along the bay were started on July 31, 1941. With the U.S. entry in the war, permanent mounts for the guns were constructed at Rocky Point, south of the site of Fort McGilvray. Plans were approved for three new batteries, two 6-inch batteries, one 90-mm gun, and numerous fire control and searchlight positions. Construction was hindered by the difficult terrain and winter season. By the end of 1943, the battery at Lowell Point just south of Seward was completed and manned by troops.^[2] Located near the fort at South Beach were utility buildings and barracks to house the 500 soldiers that supported the area's defences.^[3]

In March 1943, the installations atop Caines Head were named McGilvray after an Army officer who commanded Fort Kenay to the north in 1869. After American and Canadian forces reclaimed Attu and Kiska islands in the Aleutian Islands Campaign between May and August 1943, the Alaskan Department ordered the installations dismantled in March 1944. Many of the constructions were not yet fully completed. The guns were disassembled and shipped to locations in South Dakota and San Diego and the buildings were abandoned.^[4]

In 1971, the Alaska Division of Parks was established to control recreational land. The Caines Head State Recreation Area was established with 1800 acres. In 1974 it was expanded by an additional 4000 acres. The first work in clearing the abandoned military roads began in 1984. When workers reached the fort's site at the top of Caines Head they discovered the concrete buildings well-intact, with functioning doors and windows. Military and engineering experts consider it one of the most well-preserved sites in Alaska.^[5] The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022.^[6]

Related Research Articles

Bear Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 2,129 up from 1,956 in 2010. Bear Creek is a few miles north of Seward near the stream of the same name and its source, Bear Lake.

Lowell Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States, just outside Seward. At the 2010 census the population was 80, down from 92 in 2000.

Seward is an incorporated home rule city in Alaska, United States. Located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated on Alaska's southern coast, approximately 120 miles (190 km) by road from Alaska's largest city, Anchorage.

Kenai Fjords National Park is a national park of the United States that comprises the Harding Icefield, its outflowing glaciers, and coastal fjords and islands. The park covers an area of 669,984 acres on the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska, west of the town of Seward.

Fort Wadsworth is a former United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper and Lower bays, a natural point for defense of the Upper Bay, Manhattan, and beyond. Prior to its closing in 1994, the fort was claimed to be the longest continuously garrisoned military installation in the United States. It comprises several fortifications, including Fort Tompkins and Battery Weed and was given its present name in 1865 to honor Brigadier General James Wadsworth, who had been killed in the Battle of the Wilderness during the Civil War. Fort Wadsworth is now part of the Staten Island Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, maintained by the National Park Service.

Fort Stevens was an American military installation that guarded the mouth of the Columbia River in the state of Oregon. Built near the end of the American Civil War, it was named for Civil War general and former Washington Territory governor, Isaac I. Stevens. The fort was an active military reservation from 1863–1947. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Miles</span>

Fort Miles was a United States Army World War II installation located on Cape Henlopen near Lewes, Delaware. Although funds to build the fort were approved in 1934, it was 1938 before construction began on the fort. On 3 June 1941 it was named for Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles.

Resurrection Bay, also known as Blying Sound, and Harding Gateway in its outer reaches, is a fjord on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, United States. Its main settlement is Seward, located at the head of the bay. The bay received its name from Alexandr Baranov, who was forced to retreat into the bay during a bad storm in the Gulf of Alaska. When the storm settled it was Easter Sunday, so the bay and nearby Resurrection River were named in honor of it. Harding Gateway refers to the passage between Rugged and Cheval Islands.

Fort Worden Historical State Park is located in Port Townsend, Washington, on 433 acres originally known as Fort Worden, a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps base constructed to protect Puget Sound from invasion by sea. Fort Worden was named after U.S. Navy Rear Admiral John Lorimer Worden, commander of USS Monitor during the famous Battle of Hampton Roads during the American Civil War.

Beavertail State Park is a public recreation area encompassing 153 acres (62 ha) at the southern end of Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. The state park's main attraction is the active Beavertail Lighthouse, the current tower of which dates from 1856. During World War II, the park area was part of Fort Burnside, one of several coastal fortifications designed to protect Narragansett Bay. The park's scenic shoreline offers hiking, picnicking, and saltwater fishing.

Torrent was an American three-mast wooden barque that shipwrecked off the coast of Alaska on 15 July 1868 while transporting a company of United States Army artillerymen to Cook Inlet. Torrent was built in Bath, Maine in 1852. The ship consisted of two decks, was 576 tons, and likely measured 50 meters in length.

The Fort Miley Military Reservation, in San Francisco, California, sits on Point Lobos, one of the outer headlands on the southern side of the Golden Gate. Much of the site is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, while the grounds and buildings that were converted into the San Francisco VA Medical Center are administered by the Veterans Health Administration of the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georges Head Battery</span> Historic site

The Georges Head Battery, also called the Georges Head Military Fortifications, is a heritage-listed former military fortification located on the Georges Head on Chowder Bay Road, Georges Heights, New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Wetherill</span> Historic site in Rhode Island, United States

Fort Wetherill is a former coast artillery fort that occupies the southern portion of the eastern tip of Conanicut Island in Jamestown, Rhode Island. It sits atop high granite cliffs, overlooking the entrance to Narragansett Bay. Fort Dumpling from the American Revolutionary War occupied the site until it was built over by Fort Wetherill. Wetherill was deactivated and turned over to the State of Rhode Island after World War II and is now operated as Fort Wetherill State Park, a 51-acre (210,000 m²) reservation managed by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thornbrough Air Force Base</span> Airport

Thornbrough Air Force Base is a former facility of the United States Air Force in Cold Bay, Alaska. Following its closure, it was redeveloped into Cold Bay Airport.

Fishermen's Memorial State Park is a public recreation area and campground encompassing 91 acres (37 ha) on Point Judith in the town of Narragansett, Rhode Island. The state park occupies a portion of the former Fort Nathaniel Greene, named after Rhode Island native and Revolutionary War general Nathaniel Greene.

Caines Head State Recreation Area is a 6,571-acre (26.59 km²) recreational area encompassing the Caines Head cape in Resurrection Bay, Alaska. The area is located in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, 7 miles (11 km) south of the city of Seward. A popular tourist destination, Caines Head features spruce and hemlock forests as well as a variety of terrestrial and marine wildlife. It also features the remains of Fort McGilvray, a World War II-era fortification erected in 1941–1942 to defend against the potential invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Benjamin Branche Talley was an American engineer. He was involved in military construction in Alaska before and after World War II, and earned the nickname "the Father of Military Construction in Alaska". He was involved in planning the Normandy landings and Battle of Okinawa during World War II. After the war, Talley led various engineering districts, including the North Atlantic Division, before retiring as a brigadier general in 1956. After retirement, he was involved in civil engineering and oversaw the reconstruction of central Alaska after the Good Friday earthquake.

Rugged Island is a barrier island at the mouth of Resurrection Bay near Seward in the U.S. state of Alaska. The island is 2.4 miles (3.9 km) long, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) wide, and is primarily mountainous, consisting of mostly steep hills, peaks and vertical cliffs. The island's curved shape wraps three quarters of the way around Rugged Island's only anchorage, a central inlet known as Mary's Bay. Rugged Island is a popular destination for kayaking, sailing, camping, and guided hikes to the abandoned fort on its shores in the summer.

References

Chandonnet, Fern (2007). Alaska at War, 1941-1945: The Forgotten War Remembered. University of Alaska Press. ISBN 9781602231351.

Notes

↑ "Caines Head State Recreation Area and Resurrection Bay State Marine Parks". Camping and Hiking in Alaska. The US50. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
↑ "Seward". Seacoast Defense Photos. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
↑ "Caines Head State Recreation Area and Resurrection Bay State Marine Parks". Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
↑ Chandonnet, pg. 379
↑ Chandonnet, pgs. 379-380
↑ "Weekly listing". National Park Service.

59°59′12″N149°23′25″W / 59.98667°N 149.39028°W / 59.98667; -149.39028

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Caines Head State Recreation Area and Resurrection Bay State Marine Parks". Camping and Hiking in Alaska. The US50. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

[sdp-2] "Seward". Seacoast Defense Photos. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

[3] "Caines Head State Recreation Area and Resurrection Bay State Marine Parks". Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

[4] Chandonnet, pg. 379

[5] Chandonnet, pgs. 379-380

[6] "Weekly listing". National Park Service.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]