Fort Phoenix

Fort Phoenix. . The fortress structures of Fort Phoenix remaining today are the parapet, built before the Civil War, and the gunpowder magazine, completed in 1865. The Civil War era officer's quarters and barracks were destroyed by fire in 1918., The shape and dimensions of the parapet are irregular, following the contours of the promontory, or high rock outcrop overlooking the harbor, on which it is built. The exterior walls of the parapet are constructed of bricks with a cement covering. The walls are topped with a single row of tapered granite slabs. The interior walls are constructed of smooth granite blocks. The space between the walls are filled with soil borrow material., The five large cannons are 24-pound guns, made of cast iron and dated 1828, and were mounted here in about 1861. The small naval cannon is the only gun dating to the Revolutionary War. It was brought here in 1777 from a supply of weapons captured from the British in the Bahamas. The cannons are ceremonially fired during the Town's annual Independence Day celebrations., In 1926, Fort Phoenix was acquired from the United States Government by the Town of Fairhaven through the generosity of Cara Broughton, daughter of Henry Huttleston Rogers. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The Town of Fairhaven Board of Public Works and the Fairhaven Historical Commission now maintain it.