A very old fort Fort William Henry was one of the three forts built by the British in the Pemaquid area to protect their territory during King William’s War. Unfortunately for the British Fort Charles, Fort Frederick and Fort William Henry didn’t survive very long and the British were forced to retreat from the Pemaquid Peninsula. Fort Henry was built back in 1662 and it was the largest fort in New England at the time. Although it certainly looked strong and impenetrable with it’s impressive strong walls, the construction prove to be hasty and poor and the combined forces of the French and Native Americans soon made short work of it during the Siege of Pemaquid. By 1696 the fort was destroyed and the British were forced to retreat out of Pemaquid. It lay in ruins until around 1908 when the old fort was rebuilt as a historical site. It originally had about 20 cannon and 60 men in the fort and was actually a lot bigger than the one tower that was completely rebuilt. The remains of the stone walls can be seen to give an idea what the fort looked like when it was built. A whole lot of archaeological research has been done here and a cool little museum is located on the site. When we went it was late in the season so nobody was around but the door was open with a little donation box to collect money. Pretty cool that we had the whole place to ourselves and nice that in Maine they can trust people not to vandalize the great place. The one tower that was restored is pretty amazing and gives great views of the surrounding area. Lots of displays and historical information is inside and it’s fun to walk around the grounds. A very, very fascinating and cool place to visit and learn about the history colonial history of Pemaquid.
