Fort Levett
Encyclopedia
Cushing Island, Maine
Cushing Island, or Cushing's Island, is a privately owned island in Casco Bay in the U.S. state of Maine. Part of the city of Portland, Maine, roughly 45 families live there seasonally....
, in 1898. Located in Cumberland County, Maine
Cumberland County, Maine
Cumberland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 281,674. Its county seat is Portland, and is the most populous of the sixteen Maine counties, as well as the most affluent. Cumberland County has the deepest and second largest body of water in the...
, in the middle of Casco Bay
Casco Bay
Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth...
near Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, the fort was heavily fortified with cannons for coastal defense. Built in the wake of the Spanish American War, Fort Levett was manned during both World Wars.
Fort Levett was built on 140 acre (0.5665604 km²) of Cushing Island
Cushing Island, Maine
Cushing Island, or Cushing's Island, is a privately owned island in Casco Bay in the U.S. state of Maine. Part of the city of Portland, Maine, roughly 45 families live there seasonally....
, and the coast artillery fortification was visited by several Secretaries of War, including Jacob M. Dickinson
Jacob M. Dickinson
Jacob McGavock Dickinson was United States Secretary of War under President William Howard Taft from 1909 to 1911. He was succeeded by Henry L. Stimson.-Biography:...
, Secretary of War in 1909. The fort, whose call letters were FV, was part of a network of forts guarding Portland Harbor and Casco Bay
Casco Bay
Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth...
, which included Levett, Fort Williams on Portland Head, and Fort McKinley on Great Diamond Island as well as Fort Preble
Fort Preble
Fort Preble is a military fort in South Portland, Maine, United States. It is now on the campus of Southern Maine Community College.Henry A. S. Dearborn built this second-system fortification as an "embargo fort" in 1808 and named it in honor of Commodore Edward Preble...
. Fort Scammel and Fort Gorges
Fort Gorges
Fort Gorges is a United States military fort built on Hog Island Ledge in Casco Bay, Maine.-History: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...
, once strongly fortified and guarding the harbor entrance, were decommissioned earlier than the previous three forts. The forts were maintained by the Army's Ordnance Department.
In addition to its artillery, the fort also operated as a wireless telegraph station. In order to furnish its base with water, the army dug four wells on Cushing Island. The island presented other challenges as well. In full view of the battery of artillery was a large summer hotel. "This hotel," noted a War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
report, "is so near that the guns can not be fired without causing much damage to the building. The occupants of this hotel, if it is allowed to remain there, will be practically in the fort, while the soldiers who garrison the fort will live in barracks at a considerable distance from their guns."
The army subsequently erected cook tents and frame buildings at the fort. Although the owners of the hotel wished the army to purchase it to billet its men, the army resisted the offer, and chose instead to erect its buildings nearby. The fort had a base field hospital for the soldiers, who were part of Batteries A and M. The fort initially boasted 6-pounder RF guns on field mounts, as well as 15-pounder RF guns on parapet mounts. By 1920, the fort had two 12 inches (304.8 mm) long-range batteries.
Fort Levett was named for English explorer Captain Christopher Levett
Christopher Levett
Capt. Christopher Levett was an English writer, explorer and naval captain, born at York, England. He explored the coast of New England and secured a grant from the King to settle present-day Portland, Maine, the first European to do so. Levett left behind a group of settlers at his Maine...
, an early explorer of the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
coast and the first European to settle what is today Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
. King Charles I of England granted Levett
Levett
Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...
6000 acres (24.3 km²) to found a city the explorer proposed to call York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, after his English birthplace. (Today's York County, Maine
York County, Maine
York County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2010, the population was 197,131. Its county seat is Alfred.Founded in 1636, it is the oldest county in Maine and one of the oldest in the United States....
carries the name of Levett's birthplace.) Levett made his plantation in 1623, leaving a group of Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
men behind, and he returned to England. The settlement subsequently failed, and the colonists were never heard from again. Levett never returned to Maine.
The fort was last used for coastal defense in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and subsequently the obsolete base was sold by the government, which asked $177,000 for the property. It was bought by a group of Cushing Island residents after it was decommissioned. Forts Levett and McKinley ultimately became private condominium associations.