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Log inFort Halifax
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Fort Halifax
by Outspoken on Sat Nov 03, 2007 6:21 pm
Fort Halifax
Northern Outpost for the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Fort Halifax, in Winslow, Maine, is a National Historic Landmark and the oldest blockhouse in the United States. It included two main blockhouses, a barracks, and a main building, as well as two additional blockhouses overlooking the area from atop a nearby hill. The blockhouse in the foreground is all that remains of the fort today built by English settlers in 1754-1755, to defend the upper Kennebec River Valley from possible attack by the French and their Native American allies.
During the 1600s and 1700s, conflict was common between England and France, both in Europe and the New World. When hostilities between the two nations erupted again in 1753-1754, the government of Massachusetts (which included Maine at the time) felt very threatened because the French could easily travel along Quebec’s Chaudiere River to reach English lands in the Kennebec River Valley. Deciding that a defensive work was needed to protect the valley, Massachusetts ordered the construction of Fort Halifax.
http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/history/forthalifax/index.htm
This sketch, drawn by one of its builders, depicts the entire complex of Fort Halifax as it existed in 1755.
When the flood of April 1, 1987, dismantled the blockhouse, crews recovered logs as far south as the Richmond-Dresden Bridge, forty miles downstream. The blockhouse was painstakingly reassembled and remains on its original site today.
Northern Outpost for the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Fort Halifax, in Winslow, Maine, is a National Historic Landmark and the oldest blockhouse in the United States. It included two main blockhouses, a barracks, and a main building, as well as two additional blockhouses overlooking the area from atop a nearby hill. The blockhouse in the foreground is all that remains of the fort today built by English settlers in 1754-1755, to defend the upper Kennebec River Valley from possible attack by the French and their Native American allies.
During the 1600s and 1700s, conflict was common between England and France, both in Europe and the New World. When hostilities between the two nations erupted again in 1753-1754, the government of Massachusetts (which included Maine at the time) felt very threatened because the French could easily travel along Quebec’s Chaudiere River to reach English lands in the Kennebec River Valley. Deciding that a defensive work was needed to protect the valley, Massachusetts ordered the construction of Fort Halifax.
http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/history/forthalifax/index.htm
This sketch, drawn by one of its builders, depicts the entire complex of Fort Halifax as it existed in 1755.
When the flood of April 1, 1987, dismantled the blockhouse, crews recovered logs as far south as the Richmond-Dresden Bridge, forty miles downstream. The blockhouse was painstakingly reassembled and remains on its original site today.
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
