{"nrhp_refnum":"66000595","name":"Fort Fisher","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"18 mi. S of Wilmington on U.S. 421","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wilmington","county":"New Hanover County","state":"NC","lat":33.96799880750007,"lon":-77.92387945763494,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1961-11-05","areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Fort Fisher is a Civil War earthwork fortification site on U.S. 421, about 6 miles south of Carolina Beach in New Hanover County, North Carolina. It survives as a complex of sand mounds and bunkers with a museum, on about 187 acres.","why_significant":"The form describes Fort Fisher as the largest earthwork fortification in the Confederacy. It kept the port of Wilmington open to blockade runners, which supplied the Confederacy with provisions, clothing and munitions. It was also the scene of the heaviest naval bombardment of land fortifications up to that time, and of the Federal assault of January 1865.","narrative":"Fort Fisher is a Civil War earthwork fortification on the Carolina coast, about six miles south of Carolina Beach. Named for Colonel Charles F. Fisher, it was the largest earthwork fortification in the Confederacy. Confederate forces took over the point in April 1861 and built sand batteries mounting 17 guns. Colonel William Lamb took command in July 1862 and oversaw construction of a much stronger fort with 47 heavy guns. Its importance lay in protecting the port of Wilmington, where swift blockade runners slipped past the Union squadron with provisions, clothing and munitions. The fort endured the heaviest naval bombardment of land fortifications up to that time, in December 1864 and January 1865. On January 15, 1865, a Federal force of 3,300 attacked the 1,900-man garrison, and hand-to-hand fighting ended with the surrender of about 1,100 Confederates. Today the site consists of sand mounds and bunkers and a state-run museum, though erosion by the sea has removed much of the original works.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (Civil War)","architect_builder":"Colonel William Lamb directed construction of the enlarged fort.","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Complex of mounds and bunkers with a museum run by the state; much of the original bunkers lost to sea erosion. Preservation work is marked as in progress.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.413253-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/30/7215/47721530/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/66000595.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000595/13bbed49b6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000595/13bbed49b6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Eric T. Gunther","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Fisher_State_Recreation_Area.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Eric T. Gunther</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Fisher_State_Recreation_Area.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721530","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Fisher","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q256931"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/new-hanover-county/fort-fisher-66000595/"}