Fort Phoenix - Green St, Fairhaven, MA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

From the historic marker located next to the flag pole inside the fort.

Fort Phoenix

The fortress structures for Fort Phoenix remaining today are the parapet, built before the Civil War, and the gunpowder magazine, completed in 1865. The Civil War era officer’s quarters and barracks were destroyed by fire in 1918.

The shape and dimensions of the parapet are irregular, following the contours of the promontory, or high rock outcrop overlooking the harbor, on which it is built. The exterior walls of the parapet are constructed of brick with a cement covering. The walls are topped with a single row of tapered granite slabs. The interior walls are constructed of smooth granite blocks. The space between the walls are filled with soil borrow material.

The five large cannon are 24 pound guns, made of cast iron and dated 1828, and were mounted here in about 1861. The small naval cannon is the only gun dating to the revolutionary war. It was brought here in 1777 from a supply of weapons captured from the British in the Bahamas. The cannons are ceremonially fired during the town’s annual Independence Day celebration.

In 1926, Fort Phoenix was acquired from the United States Government by the town of Fairhaven through the generosity of Cara Broughton, daughter of Henry Huttleston Rogers. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The town of Fairhaven Board of Public Works and the Fairhaven Historical Commission now maintain it.

Caption (upper right)
A. Parapet
B. Powder Magazine
C. Location of Officers’ Quarters
D. Location of Barracks

Street address: S of U.S. 6 in Fort Phoenix Park Fairhaven, MA USA 02719 County / Borough / Parish: Bristol Year listed: 1972 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event / Military Periods of significance: 1750-1799 Historic function: Defense / Fortification Current function: Landscape / Park Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/04/2014 Lat34North visited it