Must-See Historic Forts In Mississippi

Mississippi has had a long history of fortifications. When the French came to the region in the late 1600s, they constructed a fort as their capital for New France in a place now called Fort Maurepas. During the American Civil War, the Confederacy built significant defenses to try to keep the Union out of strategic areas, especially at Vicksburg.

However, the ravages of time and weather have taken their toll on many of these forts and in most places only small trenches or historical markers remain, especially in Vicksburg. With some forts, like Fort Maurepas, there used to be a replica, but Hurricane Katrina in 2006 destroyed it.

All that being said, there are two rare historic forts one can visit today in Mississippi. One of which was an official military fortification with a fascinating history of trading hands between the Confederacy and the Union, and the other was a more ad hoc construction used to protect residents from Native American attacks during the War of 1812. Both of which can be visited today and are worth exploring to learn the fascinating history of Mississippi and the people who lived here.

Read on to learn more about these two must-see historic forts in Mississippi.

Fort Massachusetts

Don't let the name fool you. This fort is firmly located within the Mississippi Gulf Coast, close to Gulfport, Mississippi, on Ship Island. After the devastation of the War of 1812, the U.S. aimed to build extensive coastal defenses. Much later, in the 1840s, Senator Jesse Speight requested a fort on Ship Island from President James K. Polk. The matter was discussed for some years, with even then-Secretary of War and future Confederate president Jefferson Davis calling for a fort to be built there in 1855.

Eventually, the Fortifications Bill was signed in 1857, and construction of the fort began in 1859. However, it wasn't quite finished when the American Civil War broke out, and a group of Mississippi militia took over the island for the Confederacy in January 1861. The USS Massachusetts, on the Union side, fired upon the fort on July 9, 1861, marking the only military engagement the fort would see.

Later in September 1861, the Confederates abandoned the fort, leaving it to Union troops to seize. They would complete the fort, adding a mess hall, hospital, bakery, and other buildings. The Union used the fort as a staging ground to invade New Orleans in 1862. More than 18,000 U.S. troops would be on the island during that time, and more than 230 died due to illness. During the Civil War, soldiers began calling it Fort Massachusetts, although it was never officially named that. After the war, the fort remained in operation until 1903, as an ordnance sergeant maintained it.

In the 1960s, a major effort began to protect the fort from falling apart, which included pumping sand towards the fort to create a beach to protect it from seawater. Today, visitors can take a ferry to Ship Island and explore the mostly intact brick interior of the D-shaped fortification. It is worth noting that the fort has several different types of bricks used in its construction, as during the Civil War, the army shipped in bricks from several different places. It has a nearly 360-degree coverage of the water and nearby landscape, so cannons on two levels could fire on approaching enemy ships. There's even an old cannon sitting on the second level.

Hiking through these empty halls, one can imagine the hurried soldiers running around the fort, preparing to invade New Orleans. With so many forts decayed and disappeared by the ravages of time, Fort Massachusetts is a true treasure.

Ford's Fort

Not every fort was a military installation, but rather a place of safety on the often dangerous American frontier. One example is Ford's Fort. Also known as the John Ford Home, it is one of the oldest structures in Mississippi. Methodist minister John Ford, a son of Capt. James Ford of the American Revolutionary Army, settled in the area in the early 1800s and built the structure close to Ford's Ferry on the Pearl River.

The reason it is called Ford's Fort is due to the role it would play during the War of 1812 and the Creek War of 1813. The British allied with several Native American tribes during this war, which would, in turn, raid towns across the early United States. In fear of these raids, John Ford sent a letter to territorial governor David Holmes asking for defenses to be raised at the house to protect it. The governor agreed, and a high wooden palisade was raised around the house's perimeter. Neighbors in the area would flee behind the wall whenever reports of Native American attacks came to the area. As a result, the structure became known as Ford's Fort.

After the war, the structure became highly important in Mississippi Methodism as it would host the second conference of the Mississippi Methodist Church. In 1963, the Marion County Historical Society purchased the structure and its surrounding land. Despite Google claiming the house is closed, the society provides tours for the home on the weekends by appointment and also hosts regular events such as John Ford Home Trade Days.

This house is proof that in the frontier days, forts were not always military structures, but rather any defensive position that could protect settlers from attacks.

Mississippi’s Forts: A Legacy of Resilience

These two forts reveal an intriguing dichotomy in American life. On one hand, you have the rugged individualism portrayed by Ford's Fort, which served to defend neighbors from Native American attacks, and the other you can see the extensive collaborative work needed to craft the military installation of Fort Massachusetts.

Both of these forts also show that America could be a violent place, as the Civil War turned Fort Massachusetts into a battleground and the War of 1812 turned simple homes into strongholds. But even in the case of Fort Massachusetts, it was haphazardly thrown together with bricks from several different places.

Despite the fact that there aren't many forts left standing in Mississippi, these two forts make up for that fact with their intriguing histories and stories.