Kittery Point is on the southern coast of Maine, and has
been an important military defense spot since 1689. William Pepperrell build an earth work and
small blockhouse first known as Fort Pepperrell. In 1715 six cannons were placed here to
defend the mouth of the Piscataqua River. Later, on New Castle Island Fort
William was built.
Fort McClary is a wooden blockhouse built in 1844 on the
southern coast Kittery Point. This was a
strategic approach to the U.S. naval shipyard in Portsmouth harbor. This site was named for Major Andrew McClary,
who was the highest ranking officer killed at the Battle of Bunker hill, and a
New Hampshire native. The fort began in
1808, and was important during the War of 1812 and during the Civil War.
In 1924 the federal government sold the land to the State of
Maine to be used as a state park. During
World War II parts of the fort were used for civilian defense, to match the
concrete bunkers across the river at Odiorne Point in New Hampshire. Fort McClary was placed on the National
Register of Historic places in 1969, and the blockhouse was renovated in 1987
and now is a museum. You can look
across the mouth of the Piscataqua River to Rye,New Hampshire, Whaleback
Lighthouse and the Isles of Shoals.
The fort is a hexagonal blockhouse build on a first floor of
cut granite blocks. The second and third
floors are logs, and were used as Officer’s quarters and now serve as exhibit
space. There is a brick Rifleman’s house, powderhouse, parade grounds and large
earthworks. This park is open summers
only, fee charged.
Antique postcard of Fort McClary's blockhouse
Useful information:
Fort McClary State Historic Site
and also
Friends of Fort McClary
PO Box 82
Kittery Point, Maine
03905
(A non profit group formed in 2000 by citizens interested In
preserving this historic site.)
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