Fort Taber District

About this property

Fort Taber District or the Fort at Clark's Point is a historic American Civil War-era military fort on Wharf Road within the former Fort Rodman Military Reservation in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The fort is now part of Fort Taber Park, a 47-acre town park located at Clark's Point. Fort Taber was an earthwork built nearby with city resources and garrisoned 1861-1863 until Fort Rodman was ready for service. After the Civil War began in April 1861, it was apparent that the Fort at Clark's Point was still years from completion. Fort Taber, a small earthwork with six cannons, was built nearby with city resources, and named after New Bedford's mayor during that period. It provided a temporary defense until the stone fort was garrisoned in 1863. Fort Taber is marked by a stone outline today, directly behind the stone fort. It was noted at the time that the stone fort's presence interfered with effective fire from Fort Taber, and a battery of field artillery was emplaced east of Fort Taber. The Fort Taber name was unofficially used to refer to the Fort at Clark's Point for many years, even by the garrison in letters home, and is used to refer to the stone fort in some recent references. Also known as the Old Stone Fort, Fort Rodman (known as "Fort at Clark's Point" until 1898) began construction in 1857 under the third system of US fortifications, and in 1862 construction became overseen by Henry Robert, author of Robert's Rules of Order and an Army Corps of Engineers officer. The fort, as built, had emplacements for 72 cannon in three tiers; a fourth tier was originally planned, but this was removed from the design to allow more timely completion. Construction was halted in 1871, and the fort as planned was never completed. The Fort Rodman/Fort Taber Military Museum is open Wednesdays through Sundays between 1:00pm and 4:00pm. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. With new batteries being constructed under the Endicott program in 1898, the U.S. Army officially named the military reservation at the site and the fort as Fort Rodman Military Reservation, in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Logan Rodman, a New Bedford native with the 38th Massachusetts Infantry who died in the assault on Port Hudson, Louisiana in 1863. It was the primary fort of the Coast Defenses of New Bedford, and was garrisoned by the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. Along with gun batteries, facilities for planting and controlling an underwater minefield were built. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Battery Walcott was named for William H. Walcott of the 17th U.S. Infantry in the Civil War. Battery Barton was named for William Barton of the Revolutionary War. Battery Cross was named for Charles E. Cross, an engineer officer killed at the Battle of Fredericksburg in the Civil War. Battery Craig was named for Presley O. Craig, 2nd U.S. Artillery, killed at the First Battle of Bull Run in the Civil War. Battery Gaston was named for William Gaston, 1st U.S. Dragoons, killed in 1858 fighting Native Americans. Battery Milliken was named for Alfred S. Milliken, an engineer officer killed in World War I.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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