5 Great Coastal Forts to Celebrate the Civil War

Where can a history-loving Yankee go to commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the end of the Civil War? It’s a tough question. Throughout the southern and mid-Atlantic states, you’re never more than a musket shot away from an old battlefield, but the war never came to the Northeast. More battles were fought in Arizona than in New England. The only Northeast town that can make a claim is St. Albans, VT, where Confederate agents mounted a raid from Canada – but that was more of a bank robbery than a battle. Unless you want to pack up the family and head for Gettysburg, New Englanders seeking a little Civil War tourism this summer will need to think outside of the box. Your best bet is to tour one of the region’s old coastal forts. None saw any actual combat during the Civil War (most never saw any, ever), but it’s hard to beat the kind of pure, time-travel experience these hulking fortresses provide. They quickly became obsolete in the decades following the war, so they remain largely unchanged. When you tour the ramparts, you’re stepping on the same stones New England recruits did as they nervously awaited the order that would ship them away from home to some distant, unknown battleground.