Fort McClary
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Fort McClary
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The renovated blockhouse of Fort McClary, dating from 1844, which now serves as a museum
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| Location | Off ME 103 at Fort McClary State Historic Site |
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| Nearest city | Kittery Point, Maine |
| Coordinates | 43°04′54″N 70°42′34″W / 43.0817°N 70.7094°WCoordinates: 43°04′54″N 70°42′34″W / 43.0817°N 70.7094°W |
| NRHP Reference # | 69000025 |
| Added to NRHP | October 1, 1969 |
Fort McClary is a former defensive fortification of the United States military located along the southern coast of Maine at Kittery Point. Built at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, it was used primarily throughout the 19th century to protect approaches to the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and its U.S. naval shipyard.
The property and its surviving structures, including a blockhouse dating from 1844, are now owned and operated by the State of Maine as Fort McClary State Historic Site.
Coastal defenses on the site date to the late 17th century, when local shipbuilder William Pepperell (father to the more well-known William Pepperrell) acquired the property and erected crude defense works in 1689. (Prior to that the village was protected by Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth.) In 1715, during the lead-up to Father Rale's War, the Province of Massachusetts Bay voted to erect a permanent breastwork of six guns for the defense of the Piscataqua River. Some sources state that was in part to protect Maine (then part of Massachusetts) from "unreasonable duties" (basically, taxes) that the governor of New Hampshire was attempting to impose on nearby citizens of other colonies. The fort was also used to collect duties from Massachusetts citizens for its own upkeep. This fortification, known as Fort William, was transferred to the United States government in 1803; none of its features are known to survive.
The Pepperrells remained loyal to the British in 1775; their property including the fort was confiscated by local Patriot forces. In 1776 ammunition was provided for the fort's 9-pounder and 12-pounder cannon. The New Hampshire militia manned the fort until 1779.
Fort McClary was officially established in 1808 as part of the second system of US fortifications, named for New Hampshire native Major Andrew McClary, an American officer killed in the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill. It consisted of a semi-elliptical lower battery of 9 or 10 guns and a shot furnace, and an upper battery near the present blockhouse, whose armament does not appear in references. The fort was used throughout the 19th century, most notably during the War of 1812, but saw no action.
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