{"nrhp_refnum":"72000120","name":"Fort Phoenix","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"S of U.S. 6 in Fort Phoenix Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fairhaven","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.62398710800005,"lon":-70.90254888599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-11-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Fort Phoenix is a Revolutionary War-era coastal fort of brick, granite and earth fill, on a promontory at the northwestern end of Sconticut Neck in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, at the mouth of New Bedford Harbor. Construction began in 1775 and it was rebuilt after a British raid in 1778.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the fort is significant for its military role in the American Revolution. Local militia built it to protect the harbor after an early naval skirmish in 1775. British troops destroyed it in September 1778, and it was rebuilt so quickly that it was said to rise from its ashes and was named Fort Phoenix.","narrative":"Fort Phoenix sits on a rocky promontory at the northwestern end of Sconticut Neck in Fairhaven, guarding the mouth of New Bedford Harbor. Local militia began the fort in 1775 after the battles at Concord and Lexington, following a small naval action in which Fairhaven men captured two sloops. In September 1778, more than 4,000 British troops under General Grey raided the harbor area, destroyed ships and stores, and wrecked the deserted fort. The militia rebuilt it so quickly that it seemed to rise from its ashes, which gave the fort its name. The surviving horseshoe-shaped structure has brick outer walls with a cement covering added in 1950, granite inner walls, and an earth and sod parapet between them. Semicircular recesses and granite truck runs allowed cannon to be rotated. Five cast-iron cannon dated 1828 are mounted there. The town has owned it since 1922, and it forms part of a public park.","period_of_significance":"18th Century; specific date 1775","architect_builder":"Local militia (builders of the original and rebuilt fort); no architect named","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Town of Fairhaven since 1922 and maintained as part of Fort Phoenix Park, a recreational area; described as in an excellent state of preservation.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.49914-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/7945/63794574/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/72000120.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000120/99f8ecf6c4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000120/99f8ecf6c4-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Phoenix.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Phoenix.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794574","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Phoenix","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5471820"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/fort-phoenix-72000120/"}