Fort Pulaski Historic Marker, Savannah, GA
**Fort Pulaski National Monument** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000064, date listed 10/15/1966
17 mi. W of Savannah, Cockspur Island
Savannah, GA (Chatham County)
Fort Pulaski, under construction from 1829 to1847, was one of a chain of brick coastal fortifications in the eastern U.S. On Cockspur Island in the mouth of the Savannah River, it guarded the city of Savannah from water-borne invasion. Associated with it are various ancillary structures and sites that predate, contemporize with, or postdate the main building.
Fort Pulaski is the best preserved and most original of a system of eastern coastal forts designed by the French military engineer Simon Bernard while in the employ of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Its massive brick walls, backed by heavy piers, and casemated rooms reflected the continuing search for security against increasingly large caliber smoothbore cannon of the period.
Ancillary structures include: numerous cisterns, workmen's village house foundations and a stone pier, all associated with the fort's construction; Cockspur Island Lighthouse (1840) prominent in local navigational history and architecturally significant; Battery Hambright (1895) which represents the continuing evolution of coastal fortifications; and, the park residence (1896), once headquarters of the U. S. Quarantine Station on the island. (1)
A five-sided (truncated hexagon) brick structure, with 7 ½ foot-thick outer walls two tiers high, and approximately 350 feet long on each side, this casemated fort is in excellent condition. Opposite the gorge face is a triangular demilune with sides approximately 400 feet long. The fort and its demilune are separated by, and completely surrounded by, a wet moat approximately 40 feet wide and 7 feet deep. Extending from the fort in all directions over an area of roughly 100 acres is a system of dikes and drainage ditches. All of the above elements were designed and built as an integrated, militarily interdependent unit. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...
Fort Pulaski Historic Marker, Savannah, GA
**Fort Pulaski National Monument** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000064, date listed 10/15/1966
17 mi. W of Savannah, Cockspur Island
Savannah, GA (Chatham County)
Fort Pulaski, under construction from 1829 to1847, was one of a chain of brick coastal fortifications in the eastern U.S. On Cockspur Island in the mouth of the Savannah River, it guarded the city of Savannah from water-borne invasion. Associated with it are various ancillary structures and sites that predate, contemporize with, or postdate the main building.
Fort Pulaski is the best preserved and most original of a system of eastern coastal forts designed by the French military engineer Simon Bernard while in the employ of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Its massive brick walls, backed by heavy piers, and casemated rooms reflected the continuing search for security against increasingly large caliber smoothbore cannon of the period.
Ancillary structures include: numerous cisterns, workmen's village house foundations and a stone pier, all associated with the fort's construction; Cockspur Island Lighthouse (1840) prominent in local navigational history and architecturally significant; Battery Hambright (1895) which represents the continuing evolution of coastal fortifications; and, the park residence (1896), once headquarters of the U. S. Quarantine Station on the island. (1)
A five-sided (truncated hexagon) brick structure, with 7 ½ foot-thick outer walls two tiers high, and approximately 350 feet long on each side, this casemated fort is in excellent condition. Opposite the gorge face is a triangular demilune with sides approximately 400 feet long. The fort and its demilune are separated by, and completely surrounded by, a wet moat approximately 40 feet wide and 7 feet deep. Extending from the fort in all directions over an area of roughly 100 acres is a system of dikes and drainage ditches. All of the above elements were designed and built as an integrated, militarily interdependent unit. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...