Just thirty minutes away from the peace and beauty of Gulf State Park sits a retired military site rich with history, Fort Morgan. Fort Morgan is an Alabama State Historic Site, and its story begins with the War of 1812 and continues through the end of World War II. A couple years after World War II ended, in 1947, Fort Morgan was turned over to the state of Alabama to be used as an historical site.
We took a self guided tour through the fort, using the brochure to absorb as much of its history as possible. I won’t try to recreate the history lesson here. Rather, just confer to you, two facts about the fort which struck me, a bit deeper, if you will.
One was the fact that the fort was originally built using slave labor. The U.S. government had a “slave lease contract” with slave owners in the area.
These men, women, and children manufactured over 30,000,000 brick and the mortar as well. At its height, over 200 enslaved persons labored either on Mobile Point or within the brick yards and mortar kilns along the bay.
Fort Morgan Site Brochure
A second fact also stuck in my gut.
March-July 1837 – Three thousand five hundred Muscogee natives were removed from the interior of Alabama and sent to the fort to await transport to Arkansas. Ninety-three people perished from disease and exposure to extreme climates.
Fort Morgan Site Brochure
Additionally, I would be remiss with my history-loving, blogging friends if I didn’t mention that during the Great Depression, the fort was repaired and some buildings removed as a result of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Project Administration, the WPA. But, you already knew that, didn’t you, Suzassippi?
Dan Chambers
Fort Morgan is also right near the Mobile Bay Ferry. This ferry crosses Mobile Bay from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island (and back.) Across the Bay, opposite Fort Morgan, sits Fort Gaines. However, I have a personal limit of one fort per trip. Fort Gaines will remain on the agenda to visit another day.
And finally, I’ll mention that the Nature Center at Gulf State Park, offered one hour program about Fort Morgan discussing its history and showing certain artifacts. Unfortunately, we didn’t attend this program, but it would be an enriching activity to do before actually visiting the fort.
While Fort Morgan is no longer an active military operation, we did see one guard keeping the peace. Let’s hope it stands.
Chambers on the Road 
Great finish to this interesting post 🙂
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Thank you.
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Fantastic photos and history! Great post!
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Thank you. I really appreciate your comment. Enjoy your day!
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I really appreciated this post, Betty. No, I did not know about Fort Morgan at all, let alone that it was the recipient of WPA work. I looked it up in the Living New Deal, and sure enough there it is, along with the photographs of the restoration. The link is:
https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/fort-morgan-restoration-gulf-shores-al/
Thank you for sharing this portion of your trip!
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You are welcome. There is something about standing in a place and learning/knowing the things that happened there long ago. And there is something about all the New Deal projects, and the fact that they are documented (or in the process) is also very appealing to me. There projects are everywhere, and even today, so many years later, we are still the benefactors.
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I have been to Fort Morgan. It is very interesting place to visit!
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Our only option was a self-guided tour, but I would love to tour it with a guide. But in any case, you are right, it is a very interesting place!
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We were there just a little over a year ago. A fascinating place to visit. And I agree with you, the two notes of history that stuck in your gut also stuck in mine. I’ve also come to discover that many of the foods we enjoy today and many of the advances in agriculture that we see as game changing were also brought about by slave labor on the plantations in the south. Have a great day
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I went to your site to see if I could find a Fort Morgan post, but I wasn’t able to find one. If I was following you a year ago, I’m sure I would have read it. In any case, I’m glad we visited Fort Morgan and learned some important history. Sometimes, things should stick in our gut. Enjoy your day, too!
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September 3, 2020
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Ah, yes. I went back and reread your post. I remember now the part about the couple going down the steep steps on their butt. I also passed on that set of steps as they were really, really steep. I told Dan, “These steps are not to code.” Then I walked halfway around the fort, back to better steps. You did a more thorough job of covering the many and technical aspects of the fort. This is so much history there. I learned much just doing the self-guided tour, but a tour guide would have been a good way to tour the fort as well. So, now we can say our paths have crossed. Just not at the same time. Enjoy your Friday!
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Thanks for sharing this interesting place with us.
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You are very welcome. Enjoy your day!
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This is the sort of place my husband would love.
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It is rich with history. There is also a Visitor Center there with some very interesting displays, too. We went to the Visitor Center first.
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