Fort Macon State Park, Carteret County
Read MoreCommissary Storeroom
Casemates 19 through 24 have seen use for just about every purpose the fort has been utilized for. Alternately, the casemates have housed officers, enlisted men, been used as storerooms, mess halls, and even prison cells. Here, Casemate 24 has been restored to appear as a commissary storeroom from the period of the Civil War...
Atop the Citadel
Looking out over the Beaufort Inlet Channel from atop the citadel. Erosion was a major concern during and immediately after the period of the fort's construction. To combat this threat from the sea the U.S. Army sent in one of its premier engineers to initiate a erosion control system. The name of this engineer...Robert E. Lee...
Western Covertway
Looking along the western wall of the citadel from atop the covertway. This is the side of the fort which faced directly the Union bombardment and was thus the most heavily damaged. The huge earthen berm to the left was built during the Spanish-American War and was armed with a pair of mortar to protect against an attack by land which never came...
Citadel from Covertway
A panoramic view of the fort (distorted somewhat by the panorama feature on my camera) as viewed from the southwestern corner. You can see numerous openings along the interior wall of the covertway...these are known as counterfire galleries, which allowed defenders to fire on any attackers unlucky enough to be caught inside the ditch...
Model 1841 32-pounder Cannon (replica)
During the Civil War 18 of this type of cannon were garrisoned at Fort Macon. They were considered 'sea coast guns' and, as their name implies, fired a 32-pound cannon ball, at least originally. When first brought to the fort these guns were smoothbores and fired round, solid shot weighing 32-pounds. The Confederates, however soon converted the guns to have rifled barrels which fired elongated shells weighing up to 64-pounds.The cannon itself weighs in at nearly 5,000-pounds...