Historic Fort Gaines
on Dauphin Island, AL

This plan of Fort Gaines shows the general shape and outline of the fort. Note the outline of the east end of the island where the fort is located as it was when the fort was constructed.

Construction of the fort began in 1819, but the work quickly ran over budget and the foundations proved to be so close to Mobile Bay that water flowed into them at high tide. A series of other problems followed and it was not until 1853 that the project again showed progress, but under a completely redesigned plan.

Fort Gaines was considered a state of the art defense by the time it neared completion in 1861. Southern troops seized possession of the fort that year and its construction was completed by Confederate forces in 1862.

PLAN AND PROFILES OF FORT GAINES, drawn in 1854 by
Brigadier General Joseph G. Totten, Chief Engineer of U.S. Army.
(HABS ALA,49-DAUPI,1-8) Original in the US National Archives,
this copy taken from the US Library of Congress...