Fort Preble is a coastal defense fort on Spring Point in South Portland, first built in 1808 and garrisoned by the Army until 1950. Today its granite casemates and concrete gun batteries sit on the waterfront of the Southern Maine Community College campus, and you can walk around them for free, right beside Spring Point Ledge Light.
The fort guarded the south side of the main channel into Portland Harbor through the War of 1812, the Civil War and both World Wars. Each era left something behind, so a slow walk around the grounds is really a walk through 140 years of changing ideas about how to defend a harbor.
At Bird's Eye Maine we pass Spring Point on most trips out into Casco Bay, and the fort looks very different from the channel than it does from the parade ground. Here is how to plan a visit on foot, what you are looking at once you get there, and why the view from the water is worth adding.
Where Is Fort Preble, and How Do You Visit?
The fort stands at the tip of Spring Point, a short drive across the Casco Bay Bridge from downtown Portland. The grounds are open to the public with no admission fee. The things that catch people out are parking, the occasional closed section, and rough footing along the shore.
Finding the Fort on the SMCC Campus
Head for Fort Road in South Portland and follow it toward the water. The college grew out of the old Army post, so many of the red brick buildings you pass on the way in (barracks, officers' quarters and other post buildings) are original fort structures now used as classrooms and offices. Keep going toward the shoreline and the long granite wall and the lighthouse come into view together.
Parking on Campus
Parking is the most common headache, mostly because the signs are easy to miss. The college lots serve students and staff first, so look for posted visitor parking near the waterfront and read every sign before you leave the car. Weekday mornings during the school year are the busiest, while evenings and weekends are usually easier. On sunny summer afternoons the lighthouse crowd fills the closest spaces fast.
The Spring Point Shoreway and Current Access
The Spring Point Shoreway is a walking path with interpretive signs that runs along the water past the fort, linking toward Willard Beach in one direction and along the harbor in the other. Winter storms batter this shore, and storm damage to the old granite walls has led to repair and stabilization work in recent years. Sections of the path or the fort can be fenced off after storms or during repairs, so follow any posted detours and check with the college or the City of South Portland if you are planning around a specific spot.
Visiting With Kids, Strollers or Wheelchairs
Kids love ducking into the casemate openings and climbing the battery steps, but the ground is a mix of uneven granite, gravel and grass with real drop-offs toward the water. Wear sturdy shoes and keep little ones close along the seawall. The parade ground and the paved stretches of the shoreway are the easiest for strollers and wheelchairs, and they still give a good look at the walls and the lighthouse.
What Can You See at Fort Preble Today?
What survives is a layered ruin: an unfinished Civil War granite wall, early 1900s concrete batteries, and markers that explain a fort rebuilt again and again. Some pieces are gone entirely, so it helps to know what you are looking at.
The Unfinished Granite Casemates
The most photographed feature is the curving line of granite casemates facing the channel. During the Civil War the Army set out to wrap the old fort in a ring of these vaulted gun rooms, then abandoned the project before it was finished. That is why the arches look half built: they are. Run your hand along the cut stone and you can see the tool marks the masons left behind.
Battery Rivardi and the Endicott-Era Batteries
Between the late 1890s and 1906 the Army cleared most of the original 1808 fort to make room for modern concrete batteries:
Battery Kearny and Battery Chase: sixteen 12-inch mortars between them, completed in 1901. Both have since disappeared under later campus buildings.
Battery Rivardi: built in 1906 on the footprint of the original fort for two 6-inch "disappearing" guns, which dropped behind the parapet after each shot. Its guns were shipped to France in 1917 and never came back.
Battery Mason: a single 3-inch gun emplacement from the same period, named for Philip D. Mason.
The battery doors are locked, so this is an outdoor walk. Look for the old powder magazines tucked under grassy mounds, and read the shoreway signs as you go, since they fill in which piece of concrete belonged to which era.
Spring Point Ledge Light Next Door
Spring Point Ledge Light, first lit in 1897, stands at the end of a granite breakwater that starts right at the fort. Walking out takes a few minutes of careful stepping over big, gapped blocks, and it is best saved for a calm day. From the end you get a straight-on look back at the casemates and a view out to Fort Gorges in the middle of the harbor.
How Did Fort Preble Change From 1808 Through the World Wars?
Fort Preble went from a small star fort built to enforce a trade embargo, to a Civil War recruiting depot, to a modern artillery post, and finally to a college campus.
The Dearborns, Commodore Preble and the War of 1812
Secretary of War Henry Dearborn authorized the fort in 1808, and his son Henry A. S. Dearborn supervised its construction. It was named for Commodore Edward Preble, a Portland native who commanded American warships in the Barbary Wars and died in Portland in 1807.
The first fort was built partly to enforce Jefferson's unpopular Embargo Act. During the War of 1812, regulars and militia rotated through, and American soldiers returning from British captivity in Quebec, Winfield Scott among them, were landed here. In the years before the Civil War the post was commanded at times by Robert Anderson, later famous as the Union commander at Fort Sumter.
Civil War Recruiting and the Battle of Portland Harbor
During the Civil War, Fort Preble served as headquarters and recruiting depot of the 17th U.S. Infantry. In June 1863 Confederate raiders slipped into Portland Harbor and seized the revenue cutter Caleb Cushing. Soldiers from Fort Preble joined the chase in what became known as the Battle of Portland Harbor. With the wind dying, the raiders set the cutter on fire and she blew up, and the captured raiders were held at the fort.
World War I, World War II and Leaving the Army
By 1906 the new batteries had made Fort Preble a modern post. In World War I many of its guns and mortars were stripped for service in France, and in 1924 the 8th Coast Artillery Regiment was formed here and helped man Portland's harbor defenses into World War II. By then the bigger guns had moved farther out toward the open bay, and Fort Preble had become part of the inner line.
The Army inactivated the fort in 1950 and the State of Maine bought it in 1952 for a vocational technical institute, the school that grew into today's Southern Maine Community College.
How Did Fort Preble Defend Portland Harbor?
Fort Preble was never meant to work alone. It covered the main ship channel from the south shore as one link in a chain of harbor forts, so any enemy ship heading for the city would have come under fire from more than one direction.
Crossfire With Fort Scammel and Fort Gorges
From the start, Fort Preble was paired with Fort Scammel on House Island, directly across the channel, so their guns crossed over the water between them. During the Civil War, Fort Gorges rose on Hog Island Ledge to cover the inner harbor behind them. Stand on top of the casemates and the geometry is obvious: House Island off to the east, Gorges straight ahead. Our guide to Fort Gorges by boat covers the one harbor fort you can step inside.
Seeing Fort Preble From the Water
From the channel you see what the gunners saw. The sea-facing granite sits low and heavy against the shore, built to make a small target, with waves slapping the riprap at high tide and gulls lined up along the top of the wall. You also see how close House Island really is, and how Fort Gorges plugs the inner harbor. If you'd like to see the forts lined up the way an approaching ship would, our private History Tour runs right past Spring Point and the island forts beyond it.
Plenty of visitors walk Fort Preble in the morning and head out on the water later in the day. Lighthouse fans can keep going past Spring Point to Cape Elizabeth, and our post on seeing Portland Head Light from the water shows what that stretch looks like from below the cliffs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fort Preble open to the public?
Yes. The grounds are free to walk, though the fort sits on a working college campus. Use visitor parking, stay out of campus buildings, and respect any fencing put up for repairs.
Is Fort Preble still a military base?
No. The Army left in 1950, and the site has been a school since the State of Maine bought it in 1952. Many of the brick Army buildings are still in daily use by the college.
How long does a visit to Fort Preble take?
An hour covers the casemates, the batteries and the shoreway signs at an easy pace. Add another half hour or so if you want to walk the breakwater to Spring Point Ledge Light and back.
Can you go inside the batteries at Fort Preble?
No, the battery doors are kept locked. You can walk the tops and the outside of the casemates and batteries, which is where the best views are anyway.
How is Fort Preble different from Fort Gorges and Fort Scammel?
Fort Preble is on the mainland and easy to reach by car. Fort Gorges stands on a ledge in the harbor and can only be reached by boat, while Fort Scammel is on privately owned House Island and is seen from the water.
If Fort Preble has you curious about the rest of Portland's harbor defenses, come see them from the channel with us. Every trip is private, with your own boat and your own captain for up to 6 guests, and our History Tour takes in Spring Point, House Island and Fort Gorges in one loop from Fore Points Marina. Call 207.632.9369 or email info@birdseyemaine.com and Captain Matt will plan the route with you.
