A recent walkabout took us across Vermont and New Hampshire, landing in Concord, NH as our home base for several days. Each day of our trip was filled with a variety of sights and experiences, all of them backed by the amazing scenery of the New England area. One of the most notable experiences of the trip was the few hours we spent visiting Fort Stark in New Castle, New Hampshire.

Our first stop at this state park was in their visitor center, the former ordnance building, where we were greeted by Beth and Doug “Doc” Fletcher, caretakers, tour guides, and docents of this historic site. Doc is retired from the military and was actually stationed at this location during part of his career, so easily shared all the amazing details and historic relevance of this site with us! Those details included pictures of himself in earlier years while actually serving at this location!

The site overlooks the Piscataqua River, Little Harbor, and the Atlantic Ocean. Fort Stark was named in honor of John Stark, commander of NH forces at the Battle of Bennington (1777). It was first fortified in 1746 and was the home of the 22nd Coastal Artillery during World War II, charged with a significant role in the protection of the Portsmouth harbor and the nearby Portsmouth Naval Shipyard against German U-Boat activity. The installation was built so that when viewed from off-shore, presumably through a U-Boat periscope, it appeared to be a large gunship, ready to staunchly defend against all who might consider threatening our shoreline. The fort was deactivated in 1948 and turned over to the Navy in 1950. The Navy used the fort for harbor defense purposes until 1953, when it became a reserve training center for a Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit until 1980. The property was partially turned over to the state of New Hampshire in 1979, which established Fort Stark Historic Site, and the remainder of the property was turned over in 1983.

For additional information about this unique location, we would suggest these links:

On the day of our visit, the grounds and structures of the park were still damp from the heavy rains of the previous day, giving the area a more abandoned and ominous appearance than it deserved. But those are excellent photo and video conditions so we enjoyed capturing visions of our Nation’s history from the trail around the island and the air above it. We hope you enjoy our photos and video; the results of our time at this most interesting and important landmark.

We are so appreciative of the time and knowledge shared with us by Beth and Doc. We encourage our website visitors to experience this walkabout for themselves when visiting the Portsmouth area.

Fort Stark, New Castle, New Hampshire