The nation's Third System forts, including Fort Knox, all shared similar design features. These features combined to guard against attack by ships, make it impossible for the fort to be taken quickly, [and] provide protection from a land-based, . . . — — Map (db m260113) HM
Over the 20 years that Fort Knox was under construction, plans for the fort changed and parts of it had to be rebuilt. Such changes occurred in Battery B. This battery, built in 1845 for 15 guns, was the first place ready for cannons. Even though . . . — — Map (db m260121) HM
If you were to visit the nation's masonry forts built during the Fort Knox era, you would see many features common to most of them. One such feature is the casemate, a large enclosed space with a high, arched ceiling and places for cannons to fire . . . — — Map (db m55278) HM
Today's peaceful view of the Penobscot River and the community of Bucksport holds few hints of the early conflicts that plagued the area. For nearly two centuries, the river served as a border between clashing interests - French and English, Native . . . — — Map (db m260110) HM
People, machines, and animals all played a part in the slow process of raising the walls that shaped Fort Knox. But before these walls could be built, people, machines, and animals also worked to prepare the site by earth, blasting ledge, and . . . — — Map (db m260117) HM
Eight soldiers were needed to fire a 10-inch Rodman, including a chief of detachment (who gave the commands), a gunner, and six cannoneers.
The steps in firing the cannon are shown here. The gunner is indicated by "G" and the other six . . . — — Map (db m55337) HM
has been designated a
Registered National
Historic Landmark
under the provisions of the
Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935
This site possesses exceptional value
in commemorating or illustrating
the history of the United . . . — — Map (db m55157) HM
The idea of a fort on the Penobscot was not new when the U.S. government purchased land for Fort Knox in 1844. The Board of Engineers, established and charged by the Secretary of War to make a plan for the defense of the United States, had listed a . . . — — Map (db m260115) HM
Fort Knox's thick granite walls were designed to deflect cannon fire from ships passing through the Narrows of the Penobscot River. These walls also enclosed a pentagon-shaped center that contained the heart and soul of the fort.
All of the . . . — — Map (db m260118) HM
The hot shot furnace was built in 1858 to heat cannonballs for the 32 pounder cannons originally planned for but never installed at Fort Knox. These cannons would have fired heated cannonballs at enemy ships in order to set the ships on fire. . . . — — Map (db m260123) HM
Granite, brick, and other supplies used to build Fort Knox, as well as the 74 cannons and carriages eventually placed here, all arrived by water. As a result, the wharf area was undoubtedly the scene of busy activity throughout most of the fort's . . . — — Map (db m260124) HM
Native Americans first paddled dug-out canoes up and down the Penobscot River about 8,000 years ago. Seeking rich hunting and fishing grounds, these people had come to live on the wooded shores of the river and bay.
Archaeology has revealed . . . — — Map (db m260111) HM
A Rich and Productive Estuary
Just south of here, the Penobscot River widens and flows into Penobscot Bay. The mixing of fresh- water and ocean water in an area over 37 miles long and 45 miles wide makes the bay one of the largest and most . . . — — Map (db m259630) HM
Bridge Opened on December 30, 2006
Observatory opened on May 19, 2007
This award-winning structure was planned, funded, permitted, designed, built and opened to traffic in only 42 months, a testament to the remarkable vision and extraordinary . . . — — Map (db m259628) HM
The United States planned Fort Knox to prevent another attempt by the English to control Maine lands east of the Penobscot, as they had successfully done in the American Revolution and War of 1812.
Fort Knox's construction had not yet begun when . . . — — Map (db m260114) HM
It may be surprising to know that the entire weight of the bridge deck and any vehicles on it is supported by a system of wires only 1/5 inch in diameter, Seven of these pencil-thin wires are twisted together, then coated with epoxy to prevent . . . — — Map (db m259632) HM
During your visit to Fort Knox, you will see dramatic evidence of hundreds of millions of years of geologic history.
The site's bedrock, a rust-colored schist known as the Penobscot formation, is the rock that builders blasted and moved in . . . — — Map (db m260112) HM
This is a full-size segment, identical to those that make up the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.
The Penobscot Narrows Bridge span consists of 181 segments, suspended on cables from 442-foot-high pylons. Crews worked to build these segments in all . . . — — Map (db m260108) HM
Fort Knox's roof, or terreplein, has emplacements for thirty cannons. These cannons would have been smaller than the guns planned for the casemates on the main level below.
The 30 gun circles on the terreplein were all laid and ready for guns in . . . — — Map (db m260120) HM
In the early days of the automobile, travel along this section of U.S. Route 1 involved a choice: to cross the Penobscot River, motorists could wait in long lines for a ferry or travel 27 miles north to cross the river between Bangor and Brewer. . . . — — Map (db m198629) HM
In the early days of the automobile, travel along this section of U.S. Route 1 involved a choice: to cross the Penobscot River, motorists could wait in long lines for a ferry or travel 27 miles north to cross the river between Bangor and Brewer. . . . — — Map (db m259633) HM
This bridge was innovative in its use of Vierendeel truss towers and was among the first suspension bridges to use prestressed wire rope strand cables.
Completed 1931
Designated 2002 — — Map (db m260109) HM
Fort Knox never had soldiers living within its walls, except for a few weeks during the Spanish American War (1898) when some Connecticut Volunteers probably camped on the parade ground or in adjacent rooms. During the Civil War, when the largest . . . — — Map (db m260119) HM
