Fort Pike
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Fort Pike
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Cracks can be seen in the brick structure of Fort Pike after Hurricane Katrina
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| Nearest city | New Orleans, Louisiana and Slidell, Louisiana |
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| Coordinates | 30°9′58″N 89°44′13″W / 30.16611°N 89.73694°WCoordinates: 30°9′58″N 89°44′13″W / 30.16611°N 89.73694°W |
| Area | 9.6 acres (3.9 ha) |
| Built | 1819 |
| NRHP Reference # | 72000557 |
| Added to NRHP | August 14, 1972 |
Fort Pike is a decommissioned 19th-century United States fort, named after Brigadier General Zebulon Montgomery Pike. It was built following the War of 1812 to guard the Rigolets pass in Louisiana, a strait from the Gulf of Mexico, via Lake Borgne, to Lake Pontchartrain bordering New Orleans. It was located near the community of Petite Coquille, now within the city limits of New Orleans. The fort's remains were long a tourist attraction, but it was damaged by the Hurricane Katrina storm surge in 2005, and closed for a period. It also had to be closed following Hurricanes Gustav and Isaac in 2008 and 2012, respectively.
After the War of 1812, the United States built the fort in 1818 to protect New Orleans and the Gulf Coast against British or other invasion of the United States. During the Seminole Wars in Florida through the 1820s, the US temporarily held Seminole Indians here who had been taken prisoner. They were eventually transported to the Seminole Reservation in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma.)
The Louisiana Continental Guard took control of the fort in 1861, just weeks before Louisiana joined the Confederacy and the American Civil War began.
When Union forces captured New Orleans in 1862, the Confederate forces evacuated Fort Pike. The Union reestablished control of the installation, using it as a base for raids. The fort also became a site for training of United States Colored Troops, established in 1864. These soldiers in the South included mostly former slaves.
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Wikipedia