Gilbert Heights Fort (Marblehead, Massachusetts)

Marblehead · Massachusetts · War of 1812

Quick BriefRebuilt during the War of 1812 as the Gilbert Heights Fort and garrisoned from 1813 to 1815, this coastal battery on Riverhead Beach in Marblehead formed part of the town's emergency defenses against British naval threats. Smaller cannons were mounted at Gilbert's Heights in response to the threat of British sea raids. The fort was demolished in 1917.

Civil WarCoastal defense

History & Significance

Originally built in 1775 for the Revolutionary War as the Huit's Head Battery, this fortified position was recommissioned during the War of 1812 under its new designation as Gilbert Heights Fort. Danger during the War of 1812 to the town of Marblehead came from the sea, and Town Meeting responded accordingly.

Fort Sewall, at the mouth of Marblehead harbor, had been neglected since the end of the Revolution, and had fallen into disrepair. The Fort was reinforced and armed once again.

To protect Little Harbor, Fountain Park was fortified by a battery and designated Fort Washington. A forty-two pound cannon was placed at Skinner's Head (now Glover's Landing), smaller cannons at Goodwin's Head and Gilbert's Heights, and guards were stationed on Marblehead Neck.

The garrison was maintained from 1813 to 1815, coinciding with the period of heightened British naval activity along the Massachusetts coast. It was rebuilt again for the Civil War in 1863 as a three-gun earthwork, and fortifications on the site existed during the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and the Spanish–American War. The fort was demolished in 1917.