Fort Levett was built on of
Cushing Island, and the coast artillery fortification was visited by several
Secretaries of War, including
Jacob M. Dickinson in 1909. The fort, whose call letters were FV, was part of a network of forts guarding Portland Harbor and
Casco Bay under the
Coast Defenses of Portland (Harbor Defenses after 1925), which included Levett,
Fort Williams on
Portland Head, and
Fort McKinley on
Great Diamond Island as well as
Fort Preble.
Fort Scammel and
Fort Gorges, once strongly fortified and guarding the harbor entrance, were decommissioned earlier than the previous three forts, and were not modernized after the 1870s. The forts were built by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers, maintained by the Army's
Ordnance Department, and after 1907 were manned by the
United States Army Coast Artillery Corps.
Namesake Fort Levett was named for English explorer Captain
Christopher Levett, an early explorer of the
New England coast and the first European to settle what is today
Portland, Maine.
King Charles I of England granted Levett to found a city the explorer proposed to call
York, after his English birthplace. Levett founded a plantation in 1623, leaving a group of
Yorkshiremen and women behind, and he returned to England. The settlement subsequently failed, and the colonists were never heard from again. Levett never returned to Maine.
Construction and armament Fort Levett's construction began in 1898 (on land acquired in 1894) and was largely completed in 1903. The fort initially comprised five batteries. Battery Bowdoin was named for
James Bowdoin, former governor of
Massachusetts (which included Maine in his day), and had three
12-inch M1895 disappearing guns. Battery Kendrick was named for Henry Lane Kendrick, an Army officer and professor at
West Point, and had two
10-inch M1895 disappearing guns. Battery Ferguson was named for Major William Ferguson, killed in action against Native Americans in 1791, was completed in 1906, and had two
6-inch M1900 guns on pedestal mounts. Battery Daniels was named for Lieutenant Napoleon Daniels, killed in action against Native Americans at
Crazy Woman's Fork in 1866, and had two
3-inch M1898 guns (also called 15-pounder guns) on retractable masking parapet mounts. The fort also briefly had several
6-pounder rapid-fire guns on field mounts. In addition to its artillery, the fort also operated as a
wireless telegraph station. In order to furnish its base with water, the army dug four wells on Cushing Island. The island presented other challenges as well. In full view of the battery of artillery was a large summer hotel. "This hotel", noted a
War Department report, "is so near that the guns can not be fired without causing much damage to the building. The occupants of this hotel, if it is allowed to remain there, will be practically in the fort, while the soldiers who garrison the fort will live in barracks at a considerable distance from their guns." Although the owners of the hotel wished the army to purchase it to billet its men, the army resisted the offer, and chose instead to erect its buildings nearby. The army subsequently erected cook tents and frame buildings at the fort. The fort had a base field hospital for the soldiers. All of the initial post buildings were completed by 1905. The fort was a sub-post of Fort Williams, and by 1910 was in caretaker status, with only a small garrison for maintenance, as there was no immediate threat to the area. At Fort Levett, by June 1941 the older buildings had been rehabilitated and 26 temporary buildings had been added or planned, increasing the fort's capacity from 124 to 758 men. It was bought by a group of Cushing Island residents in 1957. In 1970 the main barracks building was razed, and the remaining structures were restored. Forts Levett and McKinley ultimately became private condominium associations. ==See also==