Fort Adams Virtual Tour

During our vacation to Newport, Rhode Island, while driving around the scenic drive, we stumbled across Fort Adams – a National Historic Site and Rhode Island State Park. We could have taken an hour tour inside, outside, and within the fort, however it was SO cold and windy that we just took some photos from the outside and moved on. But I explored the Fort online and wanted to share it with you, because it is pretty cool. Located right along Narragansett Bay it is quite a beautiful site.

First, I just want to give you a brief history of the fort – but you can explore an in-depth history more on their site.. Around the 1700’s the first fortification was built on Goat Island to deal with the War of Spanish Succession. It wasn’t used extensively. Following the War of 1812, the fort was overhauled and built into what was then the most complex fortifications in the Western Hemisphere. From the 1840’s to 1950’s it functioned as an active fort. While it was active during five wars, it never fired a shot. For a short period in the 1860’s it served as the United States Naval Academy. During the World Wars it served as a training site for American troops. In 1976 the fort was declared a National Historic Landmark and in 1994 the fort began restoration and tours of the site.

This video montage shows images of Fort Adams through photos from the past as well as the present.

There are many different ways you can explore Fort Adams during a visit. If you want a self-guided scenic excursion you can take a casual walk around the outside of the fort. This allows for you to see the walls and fortifications. It is a 2.25 mile circuit which is open year round.

Guided tours take off multiple times throughout the day (the number of tours depends on the season) and they take you to the parade grounds, on top of the walls, and below to the tunnels. These tours last for approximately one hour. During the summer there are two specialty tours which feature an in depth look at the fortifications (Storm the Fort) as well as the people who lived there (Life of the Fort Tour). You want more of an adventure – how about zip-lining from the fort walls, digging for geo-caches, etc?

This video – which is approximately 1 hour long – takes you on a tour of Fort Adams.

We are planning to visit the site and actually take a tour the next time we make it back to Newport during a warmer season.  Have you ever been to Fort Adams?

 

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