An American Forts Network historical website
FORT CARROLLSollers Point Flats - Dundalk area
(1847 - 1928)
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N 39°12.872 W076°31.193 (USCGS "Lighthouse")
NEW TO THIS SITE:
References of guns/carriages to Mark Berhow's "American Seacost Defenses:
A Reference Guide" Second Edition, CDSG Press 2004, which will aid you in your
personal research.
Note on GPS coordinates for most of the featured sites:
I used WGS 84 except were noted by "USCGS" or "USACE."
Those marked "USCGS" or "USACE" use NAD 83 and are listed at
http://www.geocaching.com/mark/.
The accuracy between WGS 84 and NAD 83 is slightly off,
but should not cause you any difficulties in finding locations
since many GPS devices allow you to switch between them.
Baltimore's Third System defense, Fort Carroll was named in 1850 to honor Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It is located on a man-made island in the Patapsco River adjacent to the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The construction was once supervised by Robert E. Lee. It is hexagonal and includes three modern coastal batteries. They are Battery Towson (1900 - 1918), Battery Heart (1900 - 1917), and Battery Augustin (1900 - 1920). The single story fort was origginally intended to have four tiers. The fort was abandoned after WWI. The Coast Guard used the fort during World War II. A lighthouse was added in 1854 and rebuilt in 1898. The lighthouse and the fort were abandoned in 1945 and sold in 1958. The fort was originally known as Fort at Soller's Point during its construction. During the Civil War, Fort Carroll had only five gun platforms ready in April 1861, and only two were armed with guns, out of a planned 225 gun emplacements. Privately owned, and with no public access, it is overgrown and deteriorating. The best views are from Fort Armistead and the Key Bridge.
Satellite Images of Fort Carroll
courtesy of Microsoft TerraServer
Please send comments and suggestions to:
Phil Payette
Launched: May 11, 2001
last updated: 22 April, 2009