Fort Morgan as we know it today are the remains of an old masonry star Fort at the mouth of Mobile Bay, Alabama, United States.
The post was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Daniel Morgan. Construction was completed in 1834 and it received its first garrison in March of the same year.
The fort remains we see today are the old brick, now earth covered outer walls, the moat now drained, & the inner casement with alcoved walls, now cracked & waterlogged.
There used to be a 10 sided 3 story, defended garrison, known as the Citadel at the heart of the Fort, capable of housing up to 400 troops.
During the Union bombardment on August 22 1864
, the citadels roof caught fire, & burned out of control. On the morning of the 23rd as the citadel continued to burn, the garrisons troops surrendered to Union troops.
After the surrender, portions of the Citadel walls were used to repair, the outer walls of the Fort. The remaining ruins of the structure & Heart of the Fort was razed to the ground in the 1880's
& debris was used to make a breakwater.
The fort from day 1 was prone to cracking, water & weather damage, nine attempts were made to stabilize the outer walls, but were abandoned in 1858.
The old Fort location was perfect for protecting Mobil Bay, so in 1895 the US Army constructed a new fortification, consisting of five reinforced concrete batteries surrounding the old brick Fort, each individually named, but the site location & nearby town retained the name Fort Morgan.
The batteries were closed & abandoned in 1925.
"1941, the U.S. Navy reoccupied the battery's and in April 1942, units of the 50th Coast Artillery Regiment arrived to renew the sites coast defense mission. In July 1944, Fort Morgan historic site was abandoned for the last time and its role in America's coast defense officially came to an end."
Text Source: (
visit link)
The Old Fort & Batteries are now historically preserved by the
The Alabama Historical Commission.
Fort Morgan is at the tip of Mobile Point at the western terminus of State Route 180 (Alabama). It and Dauphin Island, on which Fort Gaines is situated, & enclose Mobile Bay.
Website: (
visit link) & (
visit link) & information found on historic plaques, & information boards located around the site. (Some shown in the Photo gallery.)