The "Other" Fort Knox

Granite & cannon near Fort Knox entry

It's the one that does not have any gold inside and it's not in Kentucky.

Unlike that one, this one is accessible and on our recent Main getaway, we visited the Fort Knox that's in New England. Known as the Protector of the Penobscot, it's on the western bank of the Penobscot River in Prospect, ME, 5 miles from the mouth of the river. 

That other Fort Knox, the one with the gold, is a military base located south of Louisville and operated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It stores over half the country's gold reserves and is closed to visitors, so we won't be stopping there. 

Henry G. Knox

While military history is not a strong interest, I wanted to learn more about this military fortification afterwards, as we toured on our own.

Both military installations were named in honor of the same man, Henry Knox, Chief of Artillery in the American Revolutionary War and the first United States Secretary of War. Knox was born in Boston, MA, and retired to Thomaston, ME, in 1796. A New England fort named for him seems more appropriate than one built in Kentucky in 1936. However, both maintain their own notoriety.

The Fort Knox in Maine is a state Historic site which provides access to both the fort and the Penobscot Narrows Observatory, which we also visited on this day trip. While the fort grounds remain open year-round, the fort itself is only open during warmer months. A single admission charge covers both  the fort and observatory; as out of state seniors our cost was $5.50 each.

Back to the historical background as I enjoy sharing learned information. 

Maine had vast amounts of resources and was on the front line for attack in the late 18th and 19th century. Its forests provided wood for construction, especially shipbuilding and seacoast and inland water ways harbored an abundance of fish. This made the state an attractive target that needed protection.

Great Britain had earlier invaded and captured large portions of Maine including the lower Penobscot River. The British Navy destroyed a fleet of American ships near Bangor in the Revolutionary War. In the War of 1812, British forces looted Bangor and burned ships in its harbor. Known as the Lumber Capital of the World, Bangor was economically important to protect. Increasingly, those living near Maine’s coastline demanded protection; the case for a coastal fortification was made. 

Fort Knox viewed from Penobscot Narrows Observatory

But it wasn't in Bangor, instead a strategic location was selected, 20 miles downstream just below Bucksport, Maine. There, a high bluff across on a bend in the river, offered a commanding view within cannon shot of a ship. The fort's overall design was by Joseph G. Totten, Chief Engineer of the United States Army. Granite was quarried 5 miles upriver from Mount Waldo in Frankfort as construction began in 1844. It continued for an amazing 25 years until 1869 when  funding was withdrawn without full completion and after an expenditure of $1 million dollars. (I'm unsure if this was in current dollars or back then.)

Exterior granite walls of Fort Knox

Even in its unfinished state, Fort Knox is Maine’s largest historic fort and was its first granite fort. It features, what many consider, amazing military architecture and, from what we saw, master granite workmanship. Today, the fort is recognized one of the best-preserved and one of the most accessible forts in the U.S. It's New England’s best intact example of a mid-19th century granite coastal fortification, most likely as no battles were fought here. The fort was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and declared a National Historic Landmark in December 1970. 

Layout of Fort Knox 

The construction of Fort Knox is roughly shaped like a pentagon. There was a series of three batteries including some with their own magazines and some with hot shot furnaces for artillery intended to strike and catch wooden ships on fire. 

Fort Knox corridors, some unfinished

Protected underground passageways, dry moats, steep bluffs, and living quarters were built into the hillside to protect fort occupants. Fifteen-inch Rodman cannons enclosed in casements were placed strategically and capable of hurling projectiles weighing as much as 450 pounds to create a deadly crossfire. This was expected to present a formidable deterrent to enemies attempting to capture the lower Penobscot River.

Fort Knox granite entry

Fort Knox was the first Maine fort built entirely of granite. Previous forts used wood, earth, and stone. Once granite used in construction was quarried, granite blocks were transported down the mountain and carried by scow to a wharf near the fort. Some of this granite was cut and finished to its proper sizes on site.

Fort Knox C battery on bank of Penobscot River

In addition to the main fort with 64 guns, Fort Knox had two open water batteries facing the river, each equipped with a shot furnace to heat cannonballs sufficiently that they could ignite wooden ships if the ball lodged in the vessel. These furnaces became obsolete with the adoption of ironclad warships.

As noted earlier, Fort Knox never engaged in military conflict and no one was killed here. Like many other masonry coastal fortifications up-and-down the coast, it was pressed into service during the Civil War, although the possibility of Confederate naval operations this far north was remote. The fort served other purposes.

The fort garrisoned its first troops from 1863 to 1866, mostly Maine volunteers training in artillery and infantry before being sent to active posts, including members of the celebrated 20th Maine. (The 20th Maine Infantry Regiment, a volunteer regiment of the United States Army during the American Civil War, was celebrated for its defense of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1–3, 1863.)

Fort Knox parade grounds

The population was about 150 soldiers. New trainees arrived at the fort as those who finished training went off to war. Since Fort Knox wasn't totally completed, some of the living quarters were not yet habitable. Soldiers stayed in temporary structures or tents on the fort grounds.

The Spanish-American War of 1898 was another time of activity at Fort Knox. Fears that Spain might attack a U.S. city (however unlikely) prompted a resurgence at masonry fortifications up and down the coast and 500 troops from Connecticut used the site for training purposes.

In 1923, the federal government declared the fort obsolete and put its 125-acre grounds up for sale. The state of Maine bought it for just over $2,100. Since 1943, it has been maintained as a Maine historic site.

Grenville manning one of the Fort Knox interior cannons

There's a number of period weapons on site, including two 15-inch Rodman smoothbores in the water batteries (one remounted), an 8-inch Rodman converted rifle near the parking lot, a 10-inch Rodman smoothbore in the fort, and several 24-pounder flank howitzers. Some of the flank howitzers are mounted on the original carriages and Fort Monroe 1862 is visible on the bronze plates of these carriages. 

I learned later that remounted 15-inch Rodman guns are quite rare. Weighing in at 50,000 pounds, these weapons were the largest ones of the Civil War era produced in quantity. The Rodman cannons were stronger and safer than earlier models and had been developed by Thomas Jefferson Rodman who improved methods of casting metal for cannon tubes. (Rodman was an Indiana-born American inventor and ordnance expert, who initiated the movement for big guns. After graduating from West Point, he joined the ordnance department of the U.S. Army and devoted himself to experiments with guns and gunpowder.)

Cannons inside Fort Knox

As I am not knowledgeable on weaponry, I will not attempt to describe or provide accurate descriptions for weapons we saw at Fort Knox. A number of these were positioned at openings in the fort walls and from these placements, it appeared these would have been aimed at any enemy ships in the Penobscot River.

Beatrice & Grenville at Fort Knox

Nearly all of Fort Knox is open to the public, while there are some tour-led groups, our visit was self-guided. It's recommended that visitors have a flashlight and waterproof footwear to explore underground passageways, which are dimly lit and somewhat unfinished in places as we found out during our visit. Luckily, we used the flashlights feature on our cell phones. 

If you are ever in this part of Maine, a visit to Fort Knox and the observatory are recommended. Both are great (and low-cost) sites to visit.