|
Friends of Fort Knox Are Bucksport-Friendly
The state-maintained Fort Knox gets a helping
hand from the Bucksport-based Friends of Fort Knox. Their work
to generate interest in the historic site keeps the tourists
coming, at a rate of 60,000 visitors last year.
File Photo |
The Friends of Fort
Knox can be contacted through a post office box in Bucksport. And
there’s plenty of participation in Fort Knox events by Bucksport
folks. But the state historic site across the
Penobscot River actually isn’t about Bucksport at all: It is located
in the far-smaller
Waldo
County
town of Prospect.
Still, the
Bucksport town office gets plenty of inquiries about Fort Knox,
which certainly qualifies as a Bucksport-area attraction. And given
that Fort Knox gets 60,000 visitors each year, Bucksport officials
are happy to steer them through Bucksport on the way.
Besides, much of
the guiding energy that emerges from the Friends of Fort Knox group
comes out of Bucksport. After all, someone has to take the lead in
bringing visitors to the park.
“Maine is blessed
with some tremendous natural and historic resources,” said Leon
Seymour, executive director of the 560-member Friends of Fort Knox.
“But the state is simultaneously challenged with not having the
population or economic base to support and care for everything we
have.”
For those who
haven’t been to the granite fort, whose structures loom over the
water facing Bucksport, it’s a day trip worth taking.
There are the
grounds, which are open year-round, and there is the fort’s
interior, which is open between May 1 and Nov. 1. A restored visitor
and education center is open year-round on both weekdays and
weekends.
The fort was built
to counter British invasions in the early 1800s—although, in the
end, not a single shot was ever fired from Fort Knox.
The 32-mile section
of the Penobscot River between Castine and
Bangor had been
controlled by the British during both the American Revolution and
the War of 1812. It was feared that British ships would again sail
up the unprotected Penobscot and take control of Bangor, which was
Maine’s lucrative lumber capital. Fort Knox was built to repel such
possible attacks.
Army engineers
began building Fort Knox in 1844 and its construction continued for
the next 25 years. Work finally stopped in 1869, although the fort
was not completely finished.
There were two
periods of military activity at Fort Knox. During the Civil War, as
many as 117
Maine volunteers were garrisoned there from 1863 to 1866. Later,
about 500
Connecticut
troops were stationed there in 1898, during the Spanish-American
War. But no enemy ships ever appeared on the Penobscot during either
war.
Fort
Knox
was turned over to the state of Maine in 1923 and is managed by the
Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands. The state provides the park rangers
and does all the maintenance. But it’s the Friends of Fort Knox who
do all the rest.
The Department of
Conservation has estimated that, for 2002 alone, more than $350,000
worth of necessary repair projects will go without funding at Fort
Knox, according to Seymour.
“It’s our challenge
to continue to try and raise money, where the state can’t provide
it,” Seymour said.
The Friends of Fort
Knox started in 1991 for such a reason. The fort’s roof was
identified back in 1990 as needing repair, a changeover from asphalt
to grass. The Friends was formed to help raise funds and awareness
for that project.
It’s a continuing
challenge to lure locals to the park who can help keep Fort Knox in
good condition. The Friends just completed a third off-season of
on-site lectures about Fort Knox’s history, hoping that more members
means more tourists, ultimately.
Toward that, the
Friends are training more tour guides—the next session will be
Saturday, June 15. This is the second season that the Friends
recruited from the public to help out the fort as guides. Two
individuals completed training last year, and seven have indicated
they want to be guides starting this year.
“We want to appeal
to the area communities, to get people here so they can enjoy the
history of Maine and come to care about Fort Knox,” Seymour said.
“Many people from
Bucksport were instrumental in getting the fort’s roof fixed in the
1990s,” Seymour said. “The community rallied and challenged the state to fix
it. And even after that roof project, we retained many members from
Bucksport.”
Friends of Fort
Knox annual memberships cost $10 for children and seniors; $25 for
individuals; and $35 for families. There are, of course, higher
options for those who really want to support the group.
More information
may be found on the group’s Web site, Fortknox.maineguide.com. Take
note that including “www” isn’t necessary. To reach Friends of Fort
Knox by phone, call 469-6553.
|
