Last updated: September 5, 2024
Place
Fort Dawes
Boston Public Library
Quick Facts
Location:
Deer Island
Significance:
Part of 1900s Boston Harbor Defense System
MANAGED BY:
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
Fort Dawes, formerly located on Deer Island, served as a crucial part of the defense of Boston Harbor during World War II. It primarily operated as a station for naval observation and monitoring.
The US military first acquired the site on Deer Island in 1898 to build a naval observation station. During World War I, the military installed searchlights and fire control stations on the island, as well as submarine nets.
The site received its formal designation as Fort Dawes in 1941 in preparation for its use during WWII. The fort saw rapid development, with several artillery guns being installed, as well as an expansion of the fort’s observation facilities. Of particular importance was the Harbor Entrance Control Post (HECP), which monitored every US Navy and civilian ship entering and leaving Boston Harbor.
Following the conclusion of WWII, the US Coast Guard took over operation of the HECP and the island became a site for military research and development. While the guns remained staffed for much of the Cold War, Fort Dawes’ use as a military station and research site waned over the decades until the 1980s, when the military primarily used it for exercises. Through the course of the 1980s and 1990s the Fort was decommissioned and demolished to make way for the water treatment plant now on Deer Island. Today, the only part of Fort Dawes still standing are some ruined boundary walls.
Contributed by: Greg Bsales, SCA Historic Preservation Corps Crew Member
Sources
Butler, Gerald W. The Guns of Boston Harbor. Bloomington, IN: 1stBooks, 2001.
Butler, Gerald. The Military History of Boston’s Harbor Islands. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
"Deer Island (U.S. National Park Service)." National Park Service. Last Updated November 2, 2023. Accessed September 3, 2024.
"Island Facts: Deer Island – Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service). National Park Service. Last Updated November 30, 2023. Accessed September 3, 2024.
Olmstead Center for Landscape Preservation. Cultural Landscape Report Boston National Harbor Islands National & State Park. Boston, MA: National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, 2017.