Fort Halifax (Maine)
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| Fort Halifax | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
.jpg/250px-Fort_Halifax,_U.S._Route_201,_Winslow_(Kennebec_County,_Maine).jpg) HABS photo from 1936
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| Location: | On U.S. 201 west of Winslow, Winslow, Maine |
| Coordinates: | |
| Built/Founded: | 1754 |
| Architect: | Unknown |
| Architectural style(s): | No Style Listed |
| Added to NRHP: | November 24, 1968[1] |
| Designated as NHL: | November 24, 1968[2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 68000015 |
| Governing body: | State |
Fort Halifax was a U.S. colonial outpost on the Kennebec River at modern-day Winslow, Maine. It is a National Historic Landmark.
[edit] History
Fort Halifax was a fort on the north bank of the Sebasticook River. Its blockhouse, which survives, is the oldest blockhouse in the United States.[2] It was part of a garrison built by the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1754-1755 at the outset of the French and Indian War. On July 25, 1754, Major General John Winslow arrived with a force of 600 soldiers to establish the fort at the confluence of the Kennebec River with the Sebasticook River. The palisaded defense was intended to prevent Quebec and its Native American allies from using the Kennebec River valley as a route to attack English settlements.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968.[2][3]
On April 1, 1987, a flood dismantled the blockhouse. Some logs from it were found as far south as forty miles. The fort was reconstructed on the original site, with as much of the original materials as were recovered.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
- ^ a b c [Fort Halifax. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
- ^ Polly M. Rettig and Charles W. Snell (January 31, 1976), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Fort Halifax BlockhousePDF (32 KB), National Park Service and Accompanying three photos, exterior, from 1975 and 1988PDF (32 KB)
- ^ Fort Halifax on the Kennebec - Northern Outpost for the Massachusetts Bay Colony
[edit] External links
- Fort Halifax, U.S. Route 201, Winslow, Kennebec County, ME: 2 photos, 13 drawings, 4 data pages, at Historic American Building Survey
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