Fort Marshall with Baltimore Riots Context

Baltimore, Maryland, has a rich military history shaped by its strategic harbor on the Patapsco River and Chesapeake Bay. Over more than two centuries, the city built or adapted dozens of fortifications to guard against naval attacks—from the Revolutionary War era through World War II. The forts you mentioned (plus a few closely related ones) represent different periods: star-shaped bastions from the early republic, Civil War outposts, and Endicott-era concrete gun batteries from the late 19th/early 20th centuries.

Note: No record exists of a “Fort Collins” in the Baltimore area. It may be a reference to Fort Carroll (a common mix-up in local histories), which I’ve included below. Here are short narratives on each, drawn from official park records, historical documents, and military archives.

Fort McHenry (National Monument and Historic Shrine)

Built 1798–1803 on Locust Point (replacing Revolutionary-era Fort Whetstone), this pentagonal star fort was named for James McHenry, George Washington’s Secretary of War. Its defining moment came during the War of 1812: on September 13–14, 1814, Major George Armistead’s garrison endured a 25-hour British naval bombardment of rockets and shells. The fort held, preventing the capture of Baltimore. The sight of the giant 30×42-foot garrison flag still flying at dawn inspired Francis Scott Key to write “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” later set to music as “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The fort later served as a Civil War prison, a WWI Army hospital, and a WWII Coast Guard training site. Today it is the only site in the National Park System designated both a National Monument and Historic Shrine. Visitors can walk the ramparts, see Rodman guns, and watch the flag-raising ceremony. It remains one of Baltimore’s most visited historic sites.

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en.wikipedia.org

Fort Federal Hill (now Federal Hill Park)

In May 1861, shortly after the Pratt Street Riots, Union General Benjamin Butler occupied the prominent hill overlooking the Inner Harbor and hastily fortified it with cannons pointed at downtown Baltimore to deter secessionist activity. It was officially called Fort Federal Hill during the Civil War and garrisoned by Massachusetts troops. The city acquired the land in 1880 and turned it into a public park. Today the 10-acre hill offers panoramic skyline views; a few original cannons and a Grand Army of the Republic monument remain as reminders of its military past.

thefulcrum.us

Federal Hill's Warning: A Baltimorean's Reflection on Leadership - The Fulcrum

Fort Armistead

Constructed 1897–1901 at Hawkins Point as part of the Endicott Program modernizing U.S. coastal defenses, this concrete battery fort mounted disappearing guns (12-inch, 8-inch, and smaller rapid-fire pieces) and controlled a minefield across the harbor channel. It never fired in anger. After WWI the guns were removed; the site briefly stored Navy ammunition in WWII. Declared surplus in 1923, it became a city park in 1928. Today the overgrown concrete emplacements and tunnels are popular (if somewhat graffiti-covered) with urban explorers and fishermen.

airial.travel

Fort Armistead Park (2026) – Best of TikTok, Instagram & Reddit Travel Guide

Fort Howard (now Fort Howard Park)

The tip of North Point was the British landing site on September 12, 1814 (the day before the bombardment of Fort McHenry). In the early 1900s the Army built reinforced-concrete batteries here and made it the headquarters of the Coast Defenses of Baltimore—earning the nickname “Bulldog at Baltimore’s Gate.” Guns were removed after WWI; the site later served as a Veterans Administration hospital and WWII POW holding area. Baltimore County now operates the historic portion as a park with interpretive signs, gun mounts, and trails.

christinagunther.wordpress.com

Fort Howard played key role in Baltimore's defense | Haunted Happenings in Maryland

Fort Holabird (Camp Holabird)

Established in 1917–1918 on marshland near Colgate Creek (Dundalk area), this was the Army’s first motor-transport training center and depot, named for Quartermaster General Samuel B. Holabird. It later became a major vehicle research facility (the Jeep was extensively tested and refined here) and, by the 1950s–60s, home to the U.S. Army Intelligence School and Counter Intelligence Records Facility. The post closed in 1973; most of the land became the Holabird Industrial Park. A sphinx statue once guarded the intelligence building (now gone).

dundalkeagle.com

patch.com

Fort Carroll (likely intended as “Ft. Collins”)

This hexagonal artificial-island sea fort sits in the Patapsco River south of the Key Bridge. Designed by then-Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee and begun in 1848, it was never finished (walls were only partially built). Lightly armed during the Civil War, it received modern concrete batteries around 1900 but was abandoned after WWI. Today it is an abandoned, overgrown historic site listed on the National Register of Historic Places—reachable only by boat and occasionally visited by kayakers and urban explorers.

explore.baltimoreheritage.org

thetravel.com

Other Notable Nearby Forts

• Fort Smallwood (another Endicott battery, now a county park with gun emplacements).
• Fort Garrison (1690s stone blockhouse in Baltimore County—one of Maryland’s oldest surviving frontier forts).

Many of these sites are open to the public today as parks or monuments, offering a tangible connection to Baltimore’s role in defending the young United States. If you’re planning a visit, Fort McHenry is the best starting point—then pair it with a drive or kayak trip to the others for a full “harbor defense tour.” Let me know if you’d like driving directions, current hours, or more photos!

Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine

Location: Locust Point, Baltimore City
Era: Built 1798–1800; used through World War II
Summary:
The most iconic fort in the Baltimore region, Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine – Wikipedia is a star-shaped coastal bastion fort whose steadfast defense during the War of 1812 became one of America’s defining moments. On September 13–14, 1814, British warships bombarded the fort for 25 hours in the Battle of Baltimore. When dawn broke and the American flag still flew over the ramparts, lawyer Francis Scott Key was inspired to pen “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” the poem that became The Star-Spangled Banner, the U.S. national anthem.

Originally replacing an earlier Revolutionary War fort (Fort Whetstone), Fort McHenry guarded the entrance to Baltimore Harbor for well over a century and saw service through World War I and World War II (as a Coast Guard training base). It became a National Monument in 1939 and remains one of the nation’s most celebrated historic sites.

Fort Armistead

Location: Hawkins Point, Baltimore City
Era: Built 1897–1901 (Coast Artillery)
Summary:
Part of the late-19th century Endicott coastal defense system, Fort Armistead stood at the outer edge of Baltimore’s harbor defenses, farther seaward than McHenry. Named for Major/Colonel George Armistead (the commander of Fort McHenry during the 1814 bombardment), it was armed with modern artillery of the era and intended to deter hostile warships from reaching Baltimore.

The fort was decommissioned after World War I and the land eventually became Fort Armistead Park, with remnants of batteries still visible (though much overgrown). The site even saw brief reuse in World War II as a naval ammunition storage area.

Fort Holabird

Location: Southeast Baltimore / Dundalk border
Era: 1918–1973
Summary:
Unlike the coastal artillery forts, Fort Holabird was a U.S. Army base and training depot, established in World War I as a motor transport training center and later home to a quartermaster and signal depot. It grew in size during World War II and continued active Army use through the early Cold War.

The post garnered some notoriety in the late 1960s and early 1970s when portions of the intelligence school and prisoner-witness programs operated there. After closure in 1973, most of the land was transferred to Baltimore City and redeveloped into an industrial park, though traces of its past persist in local memory.

Fort Howard (Maryland)

Location: North Point peninsula, Baltimore County
Era: Endicott coastal defense era (late 1890s–1920s)
Summary:
At the eastern mouth of the Patapsco River, Fort Howard formed another segment of Baltimore’s harbor coastal defenses. Originally a landing area of British troops in the War of 1812 (at North Point), the site later became a heavily armed Endicott period fort with reinforced concrete batteries and large Coast Artillery guns.

Nicknamed the “Bulldog at Baltimore’s Gate,” Fort Howard worked in tandem with Forts Armistead, Carroll, and Smallwood to protect the inner harbor against potential naval assault — though it never saw combat in those later years. The fort was turned over to the Veterans Administration in 1940 and today much of the area is public parkland within Fort Howard Park with preserved batteries and interpretive signs.

Fort Federal Hill (Federal Hill Park)

Location: Downtown Baltimore (Federal Hill neighborhood)
Era: Civil War (1861–1865)
Summary:
The rise known today as Federal Hill Park was used as a defensive position well before the Civil War, but its most militarily notable period came during the Baltimore riot of 1861 and early Civil War months, when Union troops hastily erected earthworks and cannons atop the hill to command the city and deter Confederate sympathizers.

During this period it was dubbed Fort Federal Hill. While few formal structures remain, replica cannons and interpretive plaques mark its place as a key point in Baltimore’s Civil War history — a reminder of how strategically even urban high ground was used in past conflicts.

Related Nearby or Notable Forts

While not on your original list, these help complete the picture of Baltimore’s ring of defenses:

Fort Carroll

Location: Patapsco River artificial island
Era: 1850–1921
Summary: A massive hexagonal sea fort built on an artificial island designed to protect the channel into Baltimore Harbor. Constructed under the Third System of coastal defenses and even supervised in part by Robert E. Lee (before his Civil War fame), Fort Carroll never fired in anger and was largely obsolete by World War I. Today it remains an eerie abandoned structure in the river.

Summary

Baltimore’s forts reflect a long arc of American military history — from Revolutionary defenses and the War of 1812 to 19th-century coastal artillery modernization and 20th-century Army logistics facilities. Some, like Fort McHenry, are national shrines; others, like Fort Holabird, played equally vital but lesser-known roles in wartime mobilization. Many of the coastal forts are now parks or historic sites that let visitors imagine what defending one of America’s great ports once entailed.