Fort Halifax (Maine)

Infobox_nrhp2 | name =Fort Halifax
nrhp_type =
nhl = yes


caption = HABS photo from 1936
location = On U.S. 201 west of Winslow, Winslow, Maine
lat_degrees = 44
lat_minutes = 32
lat_seconds = 5
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 69
long_minutes = 37
long_seconds = 47
long_direction = W
locmapin = Maine
area =
built =1754
architect= Unknown
architecture= No Style Listed
designated_nhl=November 24, 1968cite web|url= [http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=772&ResourceType=Building |title=Fort Halifax |accessdate=2008-05-15|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = November 24, 1968cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = State
refnum=68000015

Fort Halifax was a U.S. colonial outpost on the Kennebec River at modern-day Winslow, Maine. It is a National Historic Landmark.

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. 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.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/68000015.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Fort Halifax Blockhouse] |32 KB|date=January 31, 1976 |author=Polly M. Rettig and Charles W. Snell |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/68000015.pdf "Accompanying three photos, exterior, from 1975 and 1988"] |32 KB]

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. [ [http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/history/forthalifax/index.htm Fort Halifax on the Kennebec - Northern Outpost for the Massachusetts Bay Colony] ]

References

External links

* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.me0062 Fort Halifax, U.S. Route 201, Winslow, Kennebec County, ME: 2 photos, 13 drawings, 4 data pages] , at Historic American Building Survey