Fort McClary

Fort McClary is a military fort located at Kittery where the Piscataqua River meets the coast between Maine and New Hampshire. The site contains a granite blockhouse, a powder magazine, and defensive walls that together formed a coastal defense position.

The site started as a defensive position in 1689 when William Pepperrell built initial fortifications, and the federal government created Fort McClary in 1808 as a formal installation. The hexagonal blockhouse built in 1844 represented how military design changed over the decades.

The blockhouse holds military objects and displays that show how people designed coastal defenses from the colonial period through World War I. You can see the actual strategies people used to protect the waterfront back then.

The fort opens to visitors from April through October, with guided tours available at the blockhouse that explain the military architecture. Plan to spend a few hours exploring the grounds, especially if you join a guided tour.

The blockhouse features a hexagonal shape rather than the typical square or rectangular fortress design, which allowed defenders to protect multiple angles at once. This distinctive form reflected practical solutions for guarding a river mouth.