Smiths Hill Fort

Smiths Hill Fort is a military fortification in North Wollongong featuring concrete gun emplacements, observation posts, and underground rooms positioned on elevated ground overlooking the harbor. The restored site displays two reinstalled cannons alongside informative signs that explain the military structures and their defensive functions.

Built between 1891 and 1893, the fort served to defend the coast against potential Russian naval threats during the colonial period. After World War II ended in 1945, the site was abandoned and buried, only to be excavated and restored decades later.

The fort demonstrates how Australia once protected its coastline and draws visitors interested in learning about military defense strategies of the past. Today it serves as a place where people can understand what coastal security meant in colonial times.

The site is easily reached by walking along established paths and visitors can move around on foot to see the various structures. Comfortable walking shoes are advisable due to uneven terrain and exposed areas on the hilltop.

After the war, the fort was deliberately filled with rubble and buried underground, causing it to vanish from public knowledge for decades. When archaeologists uncovered it in the late 1980s, they found the military structures remarkably well preserved beneath the accumulated fill.