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Photos taken by Doug Speer

In June 2008, I received the following e-mail from Aaron S., a website visitor, with lots of information about Fort Fremont:

Located at the southwestern tip of St. Helena Island in Beaufort County, Fort Fremont was constructed in 1899 to defend Port Royal Sound and the Naval Station located at Parris Island (which became the Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot in 1906).

The original site was developed in 1875 and included a wharf extending into Port Royal Sound, as well as a clapboard hospital structure to support the Parris Island Naval Base. At the onset of the Spanish-American war, the wooden hospital was demolished and replaced with a concrete building and the existing fortifications. The first battery (un-named or unknown) was emplaced by 1898. Battery Jessup and Battery Fornance were added in 1899. The hospital section includes a square, two-story colonial revival structure, subsequently incorporated into part of a private residence. Earthen bulwarks protect the harbor side of the masonry buildings that rest on a granite foundation. The roof is designed to collect rainwater for storage in a large cistern. An extensive duct system is used to ventilate the structure.

The design, known as "Endicott Batteries" after William C. Endicott, Secretary of War under Grover Cleveland, was constructed as part of a modern coastal defense system and accommodated disappearing guns of 8, 10, 12, and 16 inch diameters, and 10 and 12 inch mortars. Fort Fremont mounted 10" disappearing guns and a rapid-fire battery.

At its peak, the fort covered 70 acres and included a hospital, barracks, stables, guardhouses, commissary, and numerous support buildings. Garrisoned by approximately 110 men and officers of the 116th Coast Artillery, the fort was never involved in military action and the batteries were decommissioned in 1901. Only two batteries and the hospital building remain.

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