Fort Adams, Newport Neck, Newport, Newport County, RI

Significance: Fort Adams, one of principal coastal defenses along the Atlantic, was built between 1824 and 1857, replacing Revolutionary defenses. Situated on a point at the entrance to Newport harbor, it is the principal installation of a series of fortifications built to control entrance to Narragansett Bay. The fort consists of an irregular pentagonal masonry main-work with sides up to 900 feet long. Two- and three-tiered casements high, it has granite walls and brick vaulting. On a point with water on three sides, the fort has extensive landward works, and a large granite redoubt beyond the outworks. The complex includes interesting additions and alterations in the area of the main-work, and handsome late-nineteenth century residential buildings beyond the outworks. The present Fort Adams never saw military action, but the Naval Academy was moved there during the Civil War, and the summer White House was located there during the Eisenhower Administration. The Army transferred the fort to the Navy in 1953, and the area of the main-work was transferred to the State of Rhode Island in 1964 to be developed for historical and recreational purposes.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N129
Survey number: HABS RI-347
Building/structure dates: 18q2 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: ca. 1906 Subsequent Work
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 70000014