Fort Carroll is a 3.4 acre (14,000 m²) artificial island and abandoned fort in the middle of the Patapsco River, just south of Baltimore, Maryland. It is named for James Carroll (1737-1832), a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
In 1847, the State of Maryland gave permission to the United States War Department to construct a fort in the shallow water of Soller’s Point Flats to protect the city of Baltimore. Fort Carroll was important for the defense of Baltimore — before the fort was created, Fort McHenry, just outside the city, was the only military defensive structure between Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay. The Fort was part of the “Permanent System” or Third System construction program, which aimed to defend America’s most important ports.
Then Brevet-Colonel Robert E. Lee designed the hexagonal structure and supervised the construction, which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commenced in 1848. Lee went on to become Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point before the fort named on 8 October 1850.
The original design foresaw the fort being armed with some 225 cannon on three levels. However, in April 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War, Fort Carroll’s walls were still less than half the planned height of thirty feet. Only five gun platforms were ready and only two were armed with guns. Still, the Army emplaced about thirty cannon and manned the fort throughout the war. In April 1864 torrential rains flooded the fort’s magazines, which led the Army to move all the powder and ammunition to Fort McHenry.
The new batteries were ready by September 1900, well after the end of the war. They received their names on 30 March 1903.
After World War I broke out, in 1917 the Army removed the guns from Battery Heart and in 1918 those from Battery Towson to use elsewhere. By 1920 all the guns were gone.
In World War II the Army used the fort as a firing range. It also served as a checkpoint for vessels.
In May 1958, a Baltimore attorney purchased the island for $10,000, but development plans never materialized. The fort is now deserted and the habitat for various animals. It is also a site for occasional urban explorations.
Photo courtesy of Christina.
looks nice. I wonder if there are tours or boats to get there to check it out?
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Privately owned, and with no public access, it is overgrown and deteriorating. The best views are from Fort Armistead.