Inside Fort Knox

Most US citizens think of a high-security gold-storage facility in Kentucky when they hear the name Fort Knox, but a lesser-known one overlooks the Penobscot Narrows in Maine.

Both forts date to the US Civil War era of the mid-1800s and both take their name from Henry Knox, the first US Secretary of War and Commander of Artillery during the American Revolution. The fort in Maine never saw action, but re-enactment groups perform during the summer for visitors.

A few large artillery pieces, such as the 10-inch Rodman Cannon in this panorama, survive on the site. Others were scrapped and melted when they no longer served a defensive purpose. Wikipedia says that a hollow-cast gun of this size threw a 102-pound (46.2kg) shell 2.75 miles (4.4km) with a 15-pound (6.8kg) charge. The gun itself weighs 15,509 pounds (7,035kg) and measures 11.4 feet (3.5m) long. Further, 1,301 were made and 99 survive to the present.

According to the visitor's brochure, Fort Knox was the first and largest granite fort built in Maine. Also, the fort's granite blocks were quarried about five miles upriver from the fort, then carried by scow to the building site, where some of them were cut and finished to proper size. As can be seen in the panorama, many of the granite blocks are of respectable size indeed.

More information:

Fort Knox web site

Wikipedia Fort Knox page

Wikipedia Rodman Guns page







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USA-Canada / USA-Maine

Lat: 44° 33' 57.87" N
Long: 69° 49' 7.78" W

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Nikon D90 with 10.5mm lens on tripod; PTGui Pro, Pano2VR, Photoshop. Wallet with credit card for admission payment.