Coast Artillery and Harbor Defenses

The Coast Artillery was charged with the task of defending the American coast against naval attack. For practical reasons the actual defenses were located around the major deep-draft harbors. Harbors were generally sought out by an invading power as locations for their naval forces to incur damage on the commercial and the naval support facilities of an enemy and, if need be, as a location to land invading troops.

The modern-era harbor defenses consisted of several reservations of land on which were located the fortifications and support structures designed to keep enemy ships from entering the harbor. Each coast artillery fort was generally a large reservation of land on a prominent point overlooking a harbor entrance. On the reservation were the various elements of the defense fortifications: gun batteries, fire control stations, communications bunkers, a mine wharf, and minefield control structures, which were built by the Engineer Corps. Also located on the reservation were the various buildings for housing the soldiers and the storage of supplies and munitions: such as the enlisted barracks, officers quarters, hospital, post exchange, bakery, and various ordnance and quatermaster supply storage buildings, which were built by the Quartermaster Department. Usually there was one major garrison post which functioned as the harbor defense headquarters. Naturally, there were many variations on the layout, depending on the land available and the number of men stationed at the post. Generally, the buildings were all built from a master plan for that type of building.

The Harbor Defenses of the Columbia River

The virtual Harbor Defense site has a series of linked pages that will provide information on the various elements that made up a harbor defense, which will be illustrated with examples from the Harbor Defenses of the Columbia.

Much more detail can be found in the CDSG publication American Seacoast Defenses: a Reference Guide

The Harbor Defenses of the Columbia River consisted of three forts. Most of the fortification structures remain at these locations today, and most of the land of all three are are now state parks and open to the public.

A special note on Fort Columbia: Fort Columbia retains most of its garrison buildings and is an excellent example of a small early modern era post. The post is located on the north shore of the mouth of the Columbia River across the Columbia River bridge from Astoria, Oregon. The first fortications were built 1895-1905, followed by the garrison structures. The post was in use through WW II. Following its closure as a military post in 1947, it was transferred to the State of Washington for use as a public park. Most of the garrison buildings and all of the fortification structures remain today. Recently the state has removed overgrown vegetation and a number of trees from the site, and has finished a renovation program on the buildings, which included remodeling the interiors of some of the buildings for use as vacation housing rentals, re-roofing with all the buildings with new slate, and repainting the exteriors. Fort Columbia is an excellent place to view the coast artillery past. Go to the main Fort Columbia Page