Fort Gaines

18thVirginia

Major
Joined
Sep 8, 2012
On a weekend trip to New Orleans, we stopped by Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay. The fort is considered environmentally endangered, but it seems to have been well-maintained, considering its location.

Dauphin Island is a barrier island, which translated means "giant sandbar." The fort was built in 1819 as part of the defense of the Gulf Coast, but with problems in construction and land titles and a whole new plan for construction, it was not finished until 1861. In 1898, the Fort was again modified in preparation for the Spanish American War.

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Entrance to Fort Gaines
 
These are wonderful, thank you! It must be incredibly hard maintaining our historic forts by any salt water- between storms, tides, erosion and salt it's a wonder these are left in any kind of condition, so lucky to have them! Was it a little eerie like some are, SO empty where once men were so living so closely together?
 
No, there looked to be about a 5 hour line to take a ferry and it didn't seem like a vessel we wanted to go on. We went to Bellingrath Gardens and to Bayou le Batre before Fort Gaines, so only had time for one fort that day. We'll get back to Fort Morgan another time.
 
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