Fort Gorges
Fort Gorges is a United States military fort built on Hog Island Ledge in
Casco Bay, Maine.
Following the
War of 1812, the
United States Army Corps of Engineers proposed that a fort be built on Hog Island Ledge, in Casco Bay at the entrance to the harbor at
Portland, Maine. Named for the colonial proprietor of Maine,
Sir Ferdinando Gorges, it was constructed to support existing forts, including
Fort Preble in
South Portland and Fort Scammel built on nearby
House Island in 1808. Congress, however, did not fund construction of Fort Gorges until 1857. The walls of the fort were begun the next year, and when the
United States Civil War broke out in 1861, work quickly advanced.
The fort was designed by Colonel
Reuben Staples Smart. The chief architect in charge of construction was
Thomas Lincoln Casey, who later became
Chief of Engineers. It is similar in size and construction to
Fort Sumter, but is built of
granite instead of
brick.
The fort was completed in 1865 as the war ended. Modern explosives made the fort obsolete by the time it was completed. A modernization plan was begun in 1869, but funding was cut off in 1876, with the third level of the fort still unfinished. During the modernization project, sod-covered sand was added to the top level of the fort to protect gun encasements and powder magazines from attacks.
The fort was last used by the military during
World War II, when it was used to store
submarine mines. It was acquired by the City of
Portland in 1960 and placed on the
National Register of Historic Places. Owing to a large number of injuries on the fort, it is widely considered to be unsafe to visit.
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