thumb|Fort Knox ME as seen from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, 2014
Fort Knox, now Fort Knox State Park or Fort Knox State Historic Site, It is named after Major General Henry Knox, the first U.S. Secretary of War and Commander of Artillery during the American Revolutionary War, who at the end of his life lived not far away in Thomaston. As a virtually intact example of a mid-19th century granite coastal fortification, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and declared a National Historic Landmark on December 30, 1970. Funding from Congress was intermittent, and the fort's design was never fully completed despite an expenditure of $1,000,000. Granite was quarried five miles (8 km) upriver from Mount Waldo in Frankfort. The fort's overall design was by Joseph G. Totten, the foremost fortification engineer of the Army Corps of Engineers in his day. Notable engineer officers supervising construction included Isaac Ingalls Stevens and Thomas L. Casey.
Post Spanish–American War
The garrison was reduced to one man, the "Keeper of the Fort" or caretaker with the rank of ordnance sergeant, at the end of the war. The keeper attended to the condition and maintenance of the fort, and reported to Fort Preble in South Portland. In 1900 the fort received a permanent "torpedo storehouse" for storing naval mines (which were called torpedoes at the time) that is now the Visitor Center.
In 1923, the federal government declared the fort excess property and put its grounds up for sale. The state of Maine bought it for $2,121. It has been administered as a Maine state historic site since 1943.
In the media
Television
Fort Knox was featured as one of the haunted locations on the paranormal TV series Most Terrifying Places in America in an episode titled "Cursed Towns" that aired on the Travel Channel in 2018.
The Travel Channel's television show Destination Fear filmed at the abandoned fort for the third episode of their third season (2021).
Image gallery
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See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Waldo County, Maine
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Maine
- Seacoast defense in the United States
References
Bibliography
External links
- Fort Knox State Historic Site Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
- Friends of Fort Knox web site
- The Fort Knox Roll Book Website