Fort Hamilton Historic District
Coordinates: 41°29′46.91″N 71°20′28.1″W / 41.4963639°N 71.341139°W
Fort Hamilton Historic District | |
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Location | Newport, Rhode Island |
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Built | 1780 |
Architect | Anne Louis de Tousard |
MPS | Lighthouses of Rhode Island TR |
NRHP reference No. | 01001158 [1] |
Added to NRHP | October 22, 2001 |
The Fort Hamilton Historic District is a historic district including all of Rose Island in Newport, Rhode Island. The district includes Rose Island Light and an early U.S. military fortification designed in part by Major Louis de Tousard. The fort was named after Alexander Hamilton, and was part of the first system of US fortifications.[2]
History[]
The earliest fortifications on Rose Island were built in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War around the time of the Battle of Rhode Island. Later construction took place from 1798 to 1801 but was left largely unfinished except for a long barracks building used by the U.S. Infantry. The Secretary of War's report on fortifications for December 1811 describes Fort Hamilton as "a regular unfinished work of masonry of four bastions, two of which are circular. (The fort can house) 300 men".[3] In the 19th century Fort Hamilton was used as a quarantine station for the port of Newport, and the island served as a popular picnic destination.[2] Starting in the late 19th century, the island became part of the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station, and during World War I and World War II the fort was used for munitions storage by the U.S. Navy as it conducted torpedo tests, also using facilities on nearby Goat Island and Gould Island. During World War II anti-aircraft guns were also added to the island, first Navy 5-inch guns and later Army 90 mm guns. The fort was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Images[]
Fort Hamilton, early plans from ca. 1800
Fort Hamilton barracks building
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b William Abbatt, The Magazine of American History with notes and queries, Volume 11, (A. S. Barnes, 1884) pg. 490 [1]
- ^ Wade, p. 243
- Wade, Arthur P. (2011). Artillerists and Engineers: The Beginnings of American Seacoast Fortifications, 1794-1815. CDSG Press. ISBN 978-0-9748167-2-2.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Hamilton (Newport, Rhode Island). |
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. RI-58, "Fort Hamilton, Rose Island, Newport vicinity, Newport County, RI"
- HAER No. RI-58-A, "Fort Hamilton, Bomb-Proof Barracks, Rose Island, Newport vicinity, Newport County, RI"
- HAER No. RI-58-B, "Fort Hamilton, Northwest Circular Bastion, Rose Island, Newport vicinity, Newport County, RI"
- HAER No. RI-58-C, "Fort Hamilton, Southwest Circular Bastion, Underneath Rose Island Lighthouse, Newport vicinity, Newport County, RI"
- HAER No. RI-57, "Rose Island Lighthouse, Rose Island, Newport vicinity, Newport County, RI"
- Historic districts in Newport, Rhode Island
- Buildings and structures in Newport, Rhode Island
- Forts in Rhode Island
- Narragansett Bay
- American Revolutionary War forts
- War of 1812 forts
- Quarantine facilities in the United States
- Closed military facilities of the United States in the United States
- Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island
- Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island
- National Register of Historic Places in Newport, Rhode Island
- Historic American Engineering Record in Rhode Island
- Government buildings completed in 1798
- 1798 establishments in Rhode Island
- Newport County, Rhode Island Registered Historic Place stubs