Fort Popham
Encyclopedia
Fort Popham is a coastal defense land battery
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. During the American Revolution a minor fortification stood on this site; in 1808 the federal government built a small battery derisively known as an "embargo fort" on this location as part of the second system of fortifications that guarded the coast. It remained manned until 1815 and saw minor action during the War of 1812.
Construction of Fort Popham was authorized in 1857 but did not begin until 1861. The fort was built from granite
blocks quarried on nearby Fox and Dix islands. It had a 30 feet (9 m)-high wall facing the mouth of the Kennebec River and was built in a crescent shape, measuring approximately 500 feet (152.4 m) in circumference.
Fort Popham's armament consisted of 36 cannons arranged in two tiers of vaulted casements. The back side of Fort Popham was built with a low moated curtain containing a central gate and 20 musket
ports.
In 1869 construction at Fort Popham stopped before the fortification was completed. The fort was garrisoned again after additional work was performed during the Spanish-American War
and World War I
. Construction of Fort Baldwin
on the headland above Fort Popham began in 1905 with longer-range guns, which eventually rendered Fort Popham obsolete.
The fort, located two miles (3 km) from popular Popham Beach State Park, is open to the public as Fort Popham State Historic Site. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
as Fort Popham Memorial on October 1, 1969, reference number 69000012.
For this fort's role in the War of 1812, see Burrage, Rev. Henry S. “Captain John Wilson and Some Military Matters in the War of 1812.” Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society, second series, 10 (1899), 403–429.
Land battery
A land battery is a special type of gun emplacement or anti-shipping naval interdiction fortification used in coastal defense to protect areas such as anchorages, harbors, and rivers...
at the mouth of the Kennebec River
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River is a river that is entirely within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river then flows southward...
in Phippsburg, Maine
Phippsburg, Maine
Phippsburg is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Kennebec River. The population was 2,106 at the 2000 census. It is within the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical rea...
. It is located in sight of the short-lived Popham Colony
Popham Colony
The Popham Colony was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America that was founded in 1607 and located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Maine near the mouth of the Kennebec River by the proprietary Virginia Company of Plymouth...
and, like the colony, named for George Popham
George Popham
George Popham was a pioneering colonist from Maine, born in the southwestern regions of England. He was an associate of English Colonizer Sir Ferdinando Gorges in a colonization scheme for a part of Maine....
, the colony's leader. During the American Revolution a minor fortification stood on this site; in 1808 the federal government built a small battery derisively known as an "embargo fort" on this location as part of the second system of fortifications that guarded the coast. It remained manned until 1815 and saw minor action during the War of 1812.
Construction of Fort Popham was authorized in 1857 but did not begin until 1861. The fort was built from granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
blocks quarried on nearby Fox and Dix islands. It had a 30 feet (9 m)-high wall facing the mouth of the Kennebec River and was built in a crescent shape, measuring approximately 500 feet (152.4 m) in circumference.
Fort Popham's armament consisted of 36 cannons arranged in two tiers of vaulted casements. The back side of Fort Popham was built with a low moated curtain containing a central gate and 20 musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
ports.
In 1869 construction at Fort Popham stopped before the fortification was completed. The fort was garrisoned again after additional work was performed during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
and World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Construction of Fort Baldwin
Fort Baldwin
Fort Baldwin is a coastal defense land battery near the mouth of the Kennebec River in Phippsburg, Maine, United States. It was named after Jeduthan Baldwin, an engineer for the Colonial army during the American Revolution. The fort was constructed between 1905 and 1912 and originally consisted of...
on the headland above Fort Popham began in 1905 with longer-range guns, which eventually rendered Fort Popham obsolete.
The fort, located two miles (3 km) from popular Popham Beach State Park, is open to the public as Fort Popham State Historic Site. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as Fort Popham Memorial on October 1, 1969, reference number 69000012.
Further reading
For this fort's role in Jefferson's embargo, see Smith, Joshua M. "Maine's Embargo Forts," Maine History, Vol. 44, No. 2 (April 2009), 143-154.For this fort's role in the War of 1812, see Burrage, Rev. Henry S. “Captain John Wilson and Some Military Matters in the War of 1812.” Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society, second series, 10 (1899), 403–429.