Fort Morgan

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Fort Morgan at the mouth of Mobile Bay is a bit out of the way. Is it worth the visit?

FWIW I have been to Forts Clinch, Pickens, and Pulaski. I'll be at Fort Jefferson (and hopefully Fort Zachary Taylor) next month. I'll get to Sumter one of these days.

 

[hrobalabama]

By all means make Ft. Morgan. It is very historic fort and they have an interesting museum. Take the ferry boat across Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island and visit Ft. Gains. You will cross where the Battle of Mobile Bay took place. Ft. Morgan not only was the defender against Admiral Farragut's fleet, but also sustained a siege from land troops until its' surrender.

 

[bdtex]

By all means make Ft. Morgan. It is very historic fort and they have an interesting museum. Take the ferry boat across Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island and visit Ft. Gains. You will cross where the Battle of Mobile Bay took place. Ft. Morgan not only was the defender against Admiral Farragut's fleet, but also sustained a siege from land troops until its' surrender.

That is on my to-do list. I think Mobile is about a 7 hour drive from where I live. The battleship USS Alabama is there too.

 

[David O]

Fort Morgan at the mouth of Mobile Bay is a bit out of the way. Is it worth the visit?

FWIW I have been to Forts Clinch, Pickens, and Pulaski. I'll be at Fort Jefferson (and hopefully Fort Zachary Taylor) next month. I'll get to Sumter one of these days.

I visited back in June and recommend visiting both Fort Morgan and Gaines. I actually enjoyed Fort Gaines more, but Fort Morgan is the more historic of the two. The car ferry ride between the two is a must to get the full experience of the Battle of Mobile Bay. Second photo is of Fort Morgan from the ferry.

 

[ole]

Waiting for mobile_96 to weigh in. He grew up in the area and often fished off those islands.

 

[redbob]

Take the shot, it's worth the trip.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Take the shot, it's worth the trip.

Most definitely.

Waiting for mobile_96 to weigh in. He grew up in the area and often fished off those islands.

Paging @mobile_96

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

I'll chime in with a definite "yes" vote as well. I think it's one of the more-interesting preserved forts out there; and there's the additional benefit of another one (Gaines) just a ferry's ride away.

 

[mobile_96]

Most definitely.

Paging @mobile_96

Been a long time since I was there, but well worth the trip. (No ferry when I was living in Mobile area. You should also try to include Fort Blakely, at the northeast end of the bay. Not sure what is left of Spanish Fort. I never got to these two as they were not very accessible back in the early 60's. Also, there is the Mobile Museum, downtown, as they had quite a bit of items from the war, at least, back then, in the Old days of the 1960's. Maybe some of it was moved to the Forts, maybe not, because of the storms. And, if you do get there, make sure to check out some of the fine eateries on Gulf Shores. Best oysters, shrimp and fish around.

 

[rickvox79]

Definitely worth the visit. I live about 1.5 hours away and I've been several times. If you have the time take the ferry across to Fort Gaines as well. A lot of interesting Civil War history between those two forts.

 

[redbob]

Definitely worth the visit. I live about 1.5 hours away and I've been several times. If you have the time take the ferry across to Fort Gaines as well. A lot of interesting Civil War history between those two forts.

Plus the SeaLab is over at Fort Gaines.

 

[1stMS-Arty]

Forts Morgan and Gaines are well worth a visit..

Morgan....

Gaines...

 

[gunny]

Just went to Morgan yesterday and from reading the above, I'll have to go back to take the ferry to Gaines tomorrow! Thanks for the info.!

 

[redbob]

Just went to Morgan yesterday and from reading the above, I'll have to go back to take the ferry to Gaines tomorrow! Thanks for the info.!

It should be a good day for it.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I just visited Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines today, taking the ferry across.

Fort Morgan was quite frankly disappointing. It needs much more maintenance, restoration, and interpretation. I'm sure there have been some hurricane-related issues, but it is outclassed by all the other Civil War forts I've visited (Sumter, Macon, Pulaski, Jefferson, Clinton, and Pickens).

As an added disappointment (as a lighthouse buff), the Mobile Point Lighthouse is currently gone, having been taken down to be restored (it's all metal - unlike the brick one present during the battle).

Fort Gaines was in much better condition and with more interpretation.

 

[hrobalabama]

Ft. Morgan is going down for sure.The years have taken their toll. Ft. Gains is much smaller, however the bays is eating away at its eastern wall. I remember Ft. Morgan from almost eighty years ago. The officers houses were present and the little dummy engine was on its track. Like everything else, funding by the state is almost non-existent, especially anything to do with the War Between he States.

 

[bdtex]

You guys have convinced me that this is the year I need to make a visit to Mobile.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I have to wonder whether Alabama would be better off transferring Fort Morgan to the NPS. They seem to be pretty good at taking care of masonry forts despite their perpetual struggle for funding.

Ft. Gains is much smaller, however the bays is eating away at its eastern wall.

I suspect Morgan and Gaines have the same problem Pickens and McRae have: the mouth of the bay wants to move west via natural coast shoreline dynamics.

There are some extensive rock seawalls and jetties/groins that seem to be holding up well right now. One hurricane can probably change that though.