List of coastal fortifications of the United States

The United States built numerous coastal defenses to defend major cities, ports and straits from the Colonial era through World War II. Some listed were built by other nations and are now on United States territory.

The list fields are as follows:

• State: The state in which the fort is located.
• Name: The fort name, including prior names or names of prior forts on the site.
• Location: The town, island, or other place name the fort itself is or was located at.
• City or area defended: The port city, river estuary or delta, or other general area the fort defended. For 1895 and later forts, this is the name of the Coast Defense Command (Harbor Defense Command after 1925) the fort was part of. "The" preceding a place name means the area defended is a river estuary or delta.
• Era(s): Periods in which major defensive or armament-related construction took place at the fort.
  • Colonial: Prior to 1775, or built by a country other than the US.
  • Revolutionary War: 1775-1793.
  • First System: 1794-1801.
  • Second System: 1802-1815.
  • Third System: 1816-1860.
  • Civil War: 1861-1867.
  • 1870s: 1868-1879.
  • Endicott: 1885-1904.
  • Taft: 1905-1916.
  • World War I: 1917-1918.
  • Interwar: 1919-1939.
  • World War II: 1940-1945.
• Activated: Year in which the first coastal fort on the site entered service, usually when completed or first garrisoned. Many forts were garrisoned but never completed.
• Deactivated as coastal fort: Year the fort was disarmed (periods of caretaker status are not noted).
• Deactivated as military post: Year the fort site was abandoned by the Armed Forces.

For new construction in World War II, locations with 6-inch guns are included only where they were the primary defenses in the area. All forts with completed 16-inch batteries are listed, but some were never armed. There were numerous other locations not listed with 155 mm, 6-inch, or 90 mm guns, some of which were called "Forts" while others were called "Military Reservations".

See also

• Seacoast defense in the United States
• Harbor Defense Command
• United States Army Coast Artillery Corps
• List of forts in the United States

References

• Berhow, Mark A., Ed. (2004). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide, Second Edition. CDSG Press. pp. 52–53, 200–235. ISBN 0-9748167-0-1. 
• Wade, Arthur P. (2011). Artillerists and Engineers: The Beginnings of American Seacoast Fortifications, 1794-1815. CDSG Press. ISBN 978-0-9748167-2-2. 
• Weaver II, John R. (2001). A Legacy in Brick and Stone: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816-1867. McLean, VA: Redoubt Press. ISBN 1-57510-069-X. 

External links

• List of all US coastal forts and batteries at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
• FortWiki, lists most CONUS and Canadian forts
• NorthAmericanForts.com, lists US, Canadian, and some Latin American forts