Fort Machias/O'Brien

Fort Machias was built in 1775 as a four-gun battery that guarded the mouth of the Machias River in cooperation with Fort Foster, located a mile or so upriver. It was destroyed by the British in the same year. A few weeks after the shots at Lexington and Concord, the British ship Margaretta escorted Machiasport shipowner Ichabod Jones to the fort to ensure he returned to Boston with lumber needed to build barracks. The townspeople, led by Jeremiah O'Brien, retaliated and captured the Margaretta. The fort was refortified in 1777 and destroyed once again by the British in 1814. Well-preserved earthworks overlooking Machias Bay were erected for a battery of guns in 1863. The first naval engagement of the Revolution was fought offshore in 1775, five days before the Battle of Bunker Hill. This state historic site is one of the few Maine forts active during three wars - the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War