Fort William and Mary was a colonial fortification in Britain's worldwide system of defenses, defended by soldiers of the Province of New Hampshire who reported directly to the royal governor. The fort, originally known as "The Castle," was situated on the island of New Castle, New Hampshire, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River estuary. It was renamed Fort William and Mary circa 1692, after the accession of the monarchs William III and Mary II to the British throne. It was captured by Patriot forces, recaptured, and later abandoned by the British in the Revolutionary War. The fort was renamed Fort Constitution in 1808 following rebuilding. The fort was further rebuilt and expanded through 1899 and served actively through World War II.
Fort McClary is a former defensive fortification of the United States military located along the southern coast at Kittery Point, Maine at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. It was used throughout the 19th century to protect approaches to the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery. The property and its surviving structures are now owned and operated by the State of Maine as Fort McClary State Historic Site, including a blockhouse dating from 1844.
House Island is a private island in Portland Harbor in Casco Bay, Maine, United States. It is part of the City of Portland. The island is accessible only by boat. Public access is prohibited, except for an on-request tour sanctioned by the island's owners. House Island includes three buildings on the east side and Fort Scammell on the west side. The buildings are used as vacation rentals and other summer residences. The island's name derives from the site of an early European house, believed that built by Capt. Christopher Levett, an English explorer of the region.
Fort Edgecomb, built in 1808–1809, is a two-story octagonal wooden blockhouse with restored fortifications located on Davis Island in the town of Edgecomb, Lincoln County, Maine, United States. It is the centerpiece of the Fort Edgecomb State Historic Site. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, with its boundaries increased to create a historic district in 1991.
Fort Preble was a military fort in South Portland, Maine, United States, built in 1808 and progressively added to through 1906. The fort was active during all major wars from the War of 1812 through World War II. The fort was deactivated in 1950. It is now on the campus of Southern Maine Community College.
Fort Popham is a Civil War-era coastal defense fortification at the mouth of the Kennebec River in Phippsburg, Maine. It is located in sight of the short-lived Popham Colony and, like the colony, named for George Popham, the colony's leader. The site is preserved as Fort Popham State Historic Site.
Fort Independence is a granite bastion fort that provided harbor defenses for Boston, Massachusetts. Located on Castle Island, Fort Independence is one of the oldest continuously fortified sites of English origin in the United States. The first primitive fortification, called "The Castle", was placed on the site in 1634 and, after two re-buildings, replaced circa 1692 with a more substantial structure known as Castle William. Re-built after it was abandoned by the British during the American Revolution, Castle William was renamed Fort Adams and then Fort Independence. The existing granite fort was constructed between 1833 and 1851. Today it is preserved as a state park and fires occasional ceremonial salutes. Fort Independence was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Fort Winthrop, built in 1808 and named Fort Warren until 1834, was a defensive fortification in Boston Harbor named after John Winthrop, an early governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Fort Pickering is a 17th-century historic fort site on Winter Island in Salem, Massachusetts. Fort Pickering operated as a strategic coastal defense and military barracks for Salem Harbor during a variety of periods, serving as a fortification from the Anglo-Dutch Wars through World War II. Construction of the original fort began in 1643 and it saw use as a military installation into the 20th century. Fort Miller in Marblehead also defended Salem's harbor from the 1630s through the American Civil War. Fort Pickering is a First System fortification named for Colonel Timothy Pickering, born in Salem, adjutant general of the Continental Army and secretary of war in 1795. Today, the remains of the fort are open to the public as part of the Winter Island Maritime Park, operated by the City of Salem.
Fort Sewall is a historic coastal fortification in Marblehead, Massachusetts. It is located at Gale's Head, the northeastern point of the main Marblehead peninsula, on a promontory that overlooks the entrance to Marblehead Harbor. Until 1814 it was called Gale's Head Fort.
Fort Andrew is a former fort built as Gurnet Fort in 1776 for the American Revolutionary War on Gurnet Point in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It became a federal fort and was rebuilt in 1808, and again in 1863 during the Civil War when it received its current name. It is named for John A. Andrew, governor of Massachusetts 1861–1866. In 1863 Fort Standish was built nearby on Saquish Head. After the war, the federal government declared Fort Andrew an inactive military reservation in 1869. The reservation was sold in 1926 and mostly became private property, except for the US Coast Guard light station. A World War II fire control tower was built on the parapet of the old fort. Plymouth lighthouse is also on Gurnet Point, and was moved inside the fort's earthworks to protect it from beach erosion in 1997–1998.
Fort Revere is an 8-acre (3.2 ha) historic site situated on a small peninsula located in Hull, Massachusetts. It is situated on Telegraph Hill in Hull Village and contains the remains of two seacoast fortifications, one from the American Revolution and one that served 1898–1947. There are also a water tower with an observation deck, a military history museum and picnic facilities. It is operated as Fort Revere Park by the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston.
Acushnet Fort was a fort that existed from 1776 to around 1820 on Eldridge Point in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It was originally built with Commonwealth resources during the American Revolution in 1776 with ten guns. Rebuilt in 1808 under the federal second system of fortifications, it could accommodate 40 men and had six guns and a magazine.
Fort Glover was a fort in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Fortifications on the site existed during the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and the Spanish–American War. The fort was located on what is now Riverhead Beach on Bubier Road in Marblehead, sited to guard the beach and the Marblehead Neck causeway. It was demolished in 1917.
Fort Defiance was a fort that existed from 1794 to after 1865 on Fort Point in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The location protecting the inner harbor was also called Watch House Point.
Fort Sumner was a coastal defense fortification on Munjoy Hill in Portland, Maine, United States. It was built in 1794 as part of the first system of coastal fortifications built by the United States. It was reportedly originally named Fort Allen after the nearby Revolutionary War battery that probably became part of Fort Sumner, but was renamed in 1797 after Increase Sumner, the incumbent Governor of Massachusetts, of which Maine was then a part. The location is now Fort Sumner Park, also called Standpipe Park, at 60 North Street.
Fort Gansevoort is a former United States Army fort in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It was also known as the White Fort due to its whitewashed exterior.
The Harbor Defenses of New Bedford was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of New Bedford, Massachusetts and the nearby Cape Cod Canal from 1900 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included a coast artillery fort and an underwater minefield. The command originated circa 1900 as the New Bedford Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of New Bedford in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of New Bedford in 1925.
Fort Powhatan is a former river defense fort located at Windmill Hill near Garysville, Virginia, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southeast of Flowerdew Hundred Plantation in Prince George County, Virginia. The fort was named for the area's Powhatan tribe of indigenous people; the name is also an English term for their leader. It is on the south bank of the James River, sited to prevent enemy vessels proceeding upriver to Richmond. The first fort on the site was a two-gun battery called Hood's Battery, built in 1779 during the American Revolutionary War and named after the owner of the plantation it was on. In January 1781, British forces under Benedict Arnold attacked and dismantled the battery and went on to burn Richmond. Later that year a larger fort was built, named Fort Hood. In 1808 this was replaced by the federal government with Fort Powhatan, part of what was later called the second system of US fortifications. The fort was not attacked in the War of 1812. In 1862, during the American Civil War, Confederate forces added a new earthwork battery on the site; the fort area was abandoned by Confederates, and subsequently captured by Union forces in July 1863. The fort was abandoned at the end of the war in 1865.
Fort Greene in Newport, Rhode Island was a small fort built circa 1794 at Battery Park in the Point section of Newport, last active in the War of 1812. It was named for General Nathanael Greene of the Revolutionary War, who was born in Rhode Island. It was built as part of the First System of US seacoast fortifications circa 1794. The location is now Battery Park at Easton's Point, which was sometimes called North Point in the 18th century. It was on the site of a previous battery built in the American Revolution with state resources, called the North Battery. The seawall remains from Fort Greene and is curved at this point.
