Fort H. G. Wright

Fort H. G. Wright is a former military installation on Fishers Island with concrete gun emplacements and fortified structures spread across its grounds at the western tip of the island. The site preserves structures that once housed coastal defense batteries and supporting military facilities.

The United States Army built this fort in 1898 as part of efforts to modernize coastal defenses along the Eastern Seaboard. It served as an active military post through both world wars before ultimately being decommissioned.

The fort shows how American military thinking changed over time, with old gun batteries giving way to newer defense methods as warfare evolved through the early twentieth century.

The site is reachable by ferry from Connecticut and contains gun batteries and military buildings you can walk through and examine. The terrain is uneven in places, and many structures are exposed to weather and wind.

The fort once housed experimental 15-inch dynamite guns that used compressed air to launch explosive projectiles at ships. This unusual weapon system represented an attempt to explore new ways of defending the coast against naval threats.