Trying to protect Maine from the Brits in a border dispute

Entrance to Fort Knox, in Prospect, Maine.-- Photo by SarekOfVulcan

Entrance to Fort Knox, in Prospect, Maine.

-- Photo by SarekOfVulcan

Fort Knox, painting by Seth Eastman done sometime between 1870 and 1875.

Fort Knox, painting by Seth Eastman done sometime between 1870 and 1875.

“On the Penobscot River, on the opposite bank from the once-upon-a-time paper mill, stands Fort Knox {in Prospect, Maine}, proudly named after the nation’s first secretary of war, Henry Knox, who lived in Thomaston, Maine. It was built between 1844 and 1869 {initially} to guard against the British in a border dispute with Canada. The fear was that if this part of Maine fell, the British would take over some of the best lumber-producing areas on the East Coast and this would cost the United States a most valued natural resource in the building of ships. Other than training recruits during the Civil War, the fort was never used and is now a scenic location overlooking the new bridge, crossing the Penobscot River.” 
 

― Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One: Going to Sea