Fort Strong

Fort Strong
Part of Harbor Defenses of Boston
Long Island, Massachusetts
A 10-inch disappearing gun, similar to those of Batteries Hitchcock and Ward.
Fort Strong Location in Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°19′47.96″N 70°57′21.53″W / 42.3299889°N 70.9559806°W / 42.3299889; -70.9559806Coordinates: 42°19′47.96″N 70°57′21.53″W / 42.3299889°N 70.9559806°W / 42.3299889; -70.9559806
Type	Coastal Defense
Site information
Owner	Massachusetts
Controlled by	City of Boston
Site history
Built	1899
Built by	United States Army
In use	1899-1961
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Cold War

Fort Strong is a former U.S. Army Coast Artillery fort that occupied the northern third of Long Island in Boston Harbor. The island had a training camp during the American Civil War, and a gun battery was built there in the 1870s. The fort was built in 1893-1906 during the Endicott period of expansion in U.S. coast defense, and was part of the Coast (later Harbor) Defenses of Boston. Formerly, it was also known as Long Island Military Reservation. Before WW1, a large station for handling submarine mines was added to the fort's defenses. Prior to WW1 the fort was probably manned by over 1,000 soldiers. During WW2, two batteries of 3-inch guns (Basinger and Stevens) defended channel minefields, but the big guns and other 3-inch batteries (except for the AA guns) were decommissioned. Declared surplus in 1947, the fort served as a Nike missile site until 1961, and was redeveloped in 2005-2009 for a children's summer camp and later a homeless shelter. However, in 2014 the island's bridge was demolished due to safety concerns, and all activities were removed.

The fort had its origins in the Civil War period. Camp Wightman, a Civil War training camp, was located on the island in 1861. At the end of the Civil War, the state government decided to keep the name of the old Fort Strong, a Revolutionary War and War of 1812 earthwork which had been located in East Boston on Noddle's Island, and move it to Long Island. It was officially designated in 1867 as being located there. The old fort was named for Massachusetts Governor Caleb Strong. Until 1899, the fort was named the Long Island Military Reservation. From 1874 to 1876, the fort had a battery of 10 cannon, called the Long Island Head Battery, on the northeast tip of the raised northern portion of the island. Remains of this battery can still be found, concealed by heavy brush, about 100 feet (30 m) north of Battery Ward, the easternmost concrete battery on the tip of the island (see the map of the "Obsolete Battery" at right).

In 1893, as part of the Endicott Board's recommendations, construction began at the fort on a series of massive concrete gun batteries to defend the harbor approaches. A large barracks building for the soldiers and a series of quarters for officers and NCOs were also constructed, as well as structures for mining operations and support functions at the fort. The fort was named in General Order 134, 22 July 1899, for Brigadier General George Crockett Strong.