Form 10-300 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT fOF'THEp' INTERIOR (Dec. 1968) COUNTY; NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Sagadahoc

INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NFS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER (Type all entries — complete applicable sections) 69-10-18-0005 10/1/6? -V / / /\ V j\ ^vsT Fort Popham Memorial >>^j£r,»:£....,xtt] AND/OR HISTORIC; V ;iL^Ll] vyj /£v/\r/ ^L/LJd/ g<4cm !«„_ \-- iiiiiiiiiiiiliiiii^:iiiii:ii|ililiiiil: STREET AND NUMBER:

CITY OR TOWN:

Maine Saqadahoc 3-0,232

CATEGORY ACCESSIBLE OWNERSHIP STATUS (Check One). TO THE PUBLIC 21 District 0 Building £?] Public Public -Acquisition: Occupied CD Yes: O [~] Site D Structure S<;~j Private a In Process Unoccupied PS Restricted Both Being Considered Preservation work Unrestricted Object D a I- in progress [~j No: u PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Z> Agricultural Q Government I | Transportation | | Comments DC: Commercial Q Industrial Private Residence d Other (Specify) ^] Educational | | Military Religious n State Memorial Entertainment O Museum Scientific

OWNERS NAME: State of Maine in STREET AND NUMBER: LJJ State House CITY OR TOWN: Augusta Maine VJ83

COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS. ETC: Sagadahoc County Courthouse m STREET AND NUMBER:

CITY OR TOWN: tn o Bath Mai ne 0) <= OI8ZO LQ z APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: Q) Q. Q)

TITLE OF SURVEY: O O

DATE OF SURVEY: Federal (71 State fj County Local DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS:

STREET AND NUMBER:

CITY OR TOWN: (Check One) CONDITION Excellent Q Good Q Fdir a Deteriorated ^] Ruins a Unexposed a (Check One) (Check One) INTEGRITY Altered Q Unaltered (3 Moved n Original S te H

DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Construction on Fort Popham was started in 1861. It was never com­ pleted since improvements in fortification were taking place so rapidly. Fort Popham is of the type known to military engineers as a closed lunette. The outline of the fort resembles'a half-moon, with'the water.batteries.in a thick granite wall some thirty feet in height. The perimeter of this unusually-shaped fort is over 500 feet. Within the arc is a parade ground. A fine sptrtral staircase at each end of the fort leads to upper tiers. The top of the structure commands a sweeping view up the Kennebec in one direction and seaward in another. The two barracks that used to be within the inner grounds no longer exist. Almost the entire space under the fort is occupied by a great sub­ terranean cistern or cisterns into which there are several openings in the we I Is. m The fort's guns which once consisted of forty-two cannon, have all m been sent to various places for historical purposes.

n H PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) Pre-Columbian G 16th Century Q 18th Century G 20th Century g] 15th Century G 17th Century G 19th Century EJT)

SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) ~}^/c\

AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or JWore as Appropriate)

Aboriginal Education G Political G Urban PI armi-rrg — — -^[H ! Prehistoric G Engineering | | Religion/Phi- Othef^YSRecJfy)--^/ /O\ Historic Qj Industry G losophy Q / V)""" A.

Agriculture Q Invention Q Science Q /^/^ ^^C,Fl\/m V^\ Art ' G Landscape Sculpture G /i x<7 JiJf r+J.' l~ U 1,0-4 Commerce G Architecture [X] Social/Human- ' 1 " "| ''^ feBS j •-- j

Communications | | Literature [~] itarian ( j \ »""""*'» 'ATlf^ f . ' ••. / Conservation G Military jXj Theater G \ ^ ^^Gl^^^ ,C"7 Music G Transportation | | \ '* .-v , x'\^/X x . / '.-v,. .-'\ \ i/ STATEMENT OF SIGNI FICANCE (Include Personages, Dates, Events, Etc.) ^^f^l \ \^^^ History of Fort Popham Memorial ^-^J__-^" This "half-moon" granite fort, garrisoned several times though never comple l-ed, i s c :lose-l-y assocjated with England's first colonization attempt in New England , and »/> ear y Viking explorations. ' ; X Until 1890, it was thought that here was the site of the 1607 Popham Col;ony ~ Doc iiments then found in Spain established that these first colonists settled on ° Sab no Head (visible, and marked with tablet, 1/2 mile west). A short distance further west a bouhder indicates to runo legists that VI kin g *~ voyi jgers had landed here. Experts translate the boulder markings: "year 1018 is an U j || year!'. On May 31, 1607, the Mary and John and the Gift of God sailed out of Plymou i-h, a. Old England, under the command of Raleigh Gilbert and George Popham. On board w ere one hundred colonists. Two months later, July 31, the New World was sighted — (Nova Scotia). On 00 Sun< fay, August 9, ten days before selecting Sab i no Head as the plantation site, l-he z vesi >els hove to in St. George's Harbor to hold what was probably one of the ear iest — sen 'ices of the Church of England (Episcopal) in New England. They built a fort, "trencht and fortified yt with 12 pieces of ordnance, bu ilt how* ;es .. therein, besides a church and pretty Pynnace of about some thirty tonn fa } ^ whic :h they called the' Virginia. " «/» The winter of 1607-08 was a severe one and in December all but 45 coloniists reti irned to England. In February President Popham died and Gilbert succeeded hi n, In July (1608) "Capt. Gilbert received letters that his brother was newly deac lf (Strachey) and a rich inheritance awaited him in England. He decided to r 3turn, "wh< jrefore they all ymbarged and sett saile for England" (October) ... Strachey. The building of the Virginia was forerunner of the Kennebec shipbuilding trac it ion known around the world. : Like other Civil War forts, Fort Popham, begun in 1861, was outmoded before com- ^,, Mon, S The fort was garrisoned in 1865-66, during the Spanish American War in 1^9^ , and alsc during World War I. The above the fort was mined during Wor d War 1.

1 he armament and strength of the fort were such that it would have been practi cally impo ssible for warships of the Civil War period to have passed; and a serious ati empt to f orce the river entrance would have involved a landing and an attempt to carrj the tfork from the rear, hence the moat, and the small guns and loopholes command- ng the beach, the moat and the land in the rear of the fort. I fc is an interesting example of the type of harbor fortification demanded by the nilitary conditions of the period to which it belongs when gihierical project] les Dunnack, Henry E. , Maine Forts, Auq usta, Maine, (Charles E. Nash & Son) 1924), p p"; 130-138

Works Progress Administration, Writ ers, Maine - A Guide Down East, Boston, (Houghton Miffl'n Company 1937), P. 261

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES n LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY J DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY R OF LESS THAJM ONE ACRE

CORNER LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE

Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds NW 43° 45- 20" 69° 47' 4" O 1 » O i n NE 43° 45' 20" 69° 47' 3" SE 43° 45' 19" 69° 47' 3" *w 439 45* 19" 69° 47' 4" oo LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE: CODE COUNTY CODE rn

STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE

STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE on

STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE

NAME AND Tl TLE: Donald Holmstrom, Historian

ORGANIZATION ' \ DATE State Park and Recreation Commission June 18, 1969

STREET AND NUMBER: State Office Building CITY OR TOWN: STATE CODE Augusta Maine C.^O

As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na­ I hereby certify that this property is included in the tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law National Register. 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been ' evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set MJ/iU T~ $Jjtf (JxMMiilkl^ forth by the National Park Service. The recommended Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Efreservfftion level of significance of this nomination is: National g] State Q Local FJ OCTl 1969 > , /_ Date Name^^^V^**^^- ^X^^^j /^/ Lawrence Stuart ATTEST:

Title Director, State Park & Recreation 'IH/M^LMi 1 fm^JM^/l^ Commission Keeper* ofy The National Register

Date June 27, 1969 Date SEP 2/1969 Form 10-300o UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (Dec. 1968) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Maine NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY Sagadahoc INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPSUSE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet)

(Number all entries) (History of Fort Popham, continued) of cast iron were fired from smoothbore or rudely rifled inuzzle loading cannon and when 1000 yards was long range for artillery firing. It's granite walls ware then effective protection against shot and shell and infinitely superior in that respect to the timbers of which the warships were built. In I8$8a battery with emplacement for one eight inch converted gun was built, which was mounted and ready for use in the Spanish-American War. A modern mine equipment was installed at Popham at the start of World War I to protect the channel leading to Bath. After the war this equipment was removed. This was the last improvement made by the United States at Fort Popham. '/wi'fa$i&4 •^i'Ww^»x'' '••{, {^Sr nf•$$•. / V^S^/ v»" $ 1^^-Vfi''"^

{,>:,:">•/ / .|^^j^^«W^'S.:.;: ^.«^«*i^rff^• ,/i > Jr^k 5 Min. Series Bath, Maine Fort Pop ham

43 45' 20 11 N. Lat.

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ROAD CLASSIFICATION

Heavy-duty..... __^_^^_ I ight-Hli^i Medium-duty...... ————— Unimproved dirt =.= = = *== = =

( ) Interstate oute Q u- s- Route O State Route ATER ATER The south half of this area also covered by 1:24 000 scale maps of Orrs Island and Phippsburg 7.5 minute quadrangles, surveyed 1941

QUADRANGLE LOCATION BATH, MAINE N4345-W6945/15 RDS D. C. 20242 1957 ABLE ON REQUEST AMS 7071 IV-SER1ES V?lt Form 10-301 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (Dec. 1968) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MAINE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Sagadahoc

PROPERTY MAP FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY (Type all entries - attach to or enclose with map)

COMMON: Fort Popham Memoria

AND/OR HISTORIC:

STREET AND NUMBER: U 3I -^29)969

D CITY OR TOWN: Of CO DE COUNTY: Maine Saqadaho* y lil

U.S.G.S. 15* quadrangle Bath UJ j; 62,500 1957 LU IliiliiiMiiiillli: TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS 1. Property broundories where required. 2. North arrow. 3. Latitude and longitude reference.