Sunday, June 1, 2008

Fort Independence

This is a view towards the main entry way to Fort Independence, on Castle Island.
Castle Island is the oldest fortified military site in British North America. The first fort was built on the site in 1643. The present pentagonal fort (built between 1834 and 1851) is the eighth generation of forts or "castles" built and garrisoned on the island.
In 1827, a young soldier named Edgar Allan Perry (later known as Edgar Allan Poe) served for about five months at Fort Independence. It is commonly thought that his short story, "The Cask of Amontillado" is based on a legend of an officer who was walled up in the walls of the fort.

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