Fort Ruger is a fort on the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

that served as the first military reservation in the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territories of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from Apri ...

. Named after Civil War General Thomas H. Ruger and built in and around Diamond Head Crater, the fort was established by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for the purpose of defending the harbor of its newly

annex Annex or annexe may refer to: Places * The Annex, a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. * The Annex (New Haven), a neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. * Annex, Oregon, a census-designated place in the United ...

ed territory. The fort was established in 1906 as Diamond Head Reservation and renamed Fort Ruger in 1909.

History

Fort Ruger was the site of Battery Harlow, armed with eight 12-inch mortars. The fort's prominent location on Diamond Head made it a natural

fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

station, with several posts built into Lēʻahi Peak. The Fort is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, with portions of the site still being used for training by the

Hawaii National Guard The Hawaii National Guard consists of the Hawaii Army National Guard and the Hawaii Air National Guard. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. Those functions range ...

.Alt URL
/ref> Few of the original buildings survive. The most striking are three sets of stone structures that mark former gates to the fort. On the Waikiki side, there is a pair of gateposts on either side of the sidewalk and a square stone bunker across the street with a gun slit in the outside wall and with

crenel An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions ( merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out ...

s and

merlon A merlon is the solid, upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications. Merlons are sometimes pierced by narrow, vertical embrasures, or tooth-like slits designed for observation and fire. The sp ...

s along the top, as if it were a

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

in a European castle. On the Kahala side is a larger stone gatehouse with rounded edges of the kind popular in the 1930s. Between them, on the

Kaimuki Kaimukī is a residential neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. History In the 19th century the area was a farm of King Kalākaua, where ostriches roamed wild over the mountain side. It later became the site of a carnation farm for ...

side, is a purely decorative structure, a circular stonewalled planter with two jagged stone arches intersecting at 90-degree angles. It now stands at the edge of the Kapiolani Community College parking lot, but was once flanked by two large gun barrels.Brown, DeSoto. (2003), "Fort Ruger" in David Cheever and Scott Cheever, ''Pōhaku: The Art & Architecture of Stonework in Hawaiʻi'' (Honolulu: Editions Limited), pp. 88–89.

Images

Image:Diamond-Head-Hawaii-Nov-2001.jpg, Aerial view of Diamond Head Crater Image:Diamond Head Bunker.jpg, Bunker on ridge of Diamond Head Image:FtRuger-outside-slope-bunker.JPG, Battery Harlow as seen from Diamond Head Road Image:FtRuger-old-gatepost.JPG, Old entrance gatepost, Waikiki side Image:Honolulu-FtRuger-gatebunker.JPG, Old gate guardhouse, Waikiki side Image:FtRuger-stone-art-planter.JPG, Stone artwork, Kaimuki side Image:FrRuger-Kahala-gatehouse-signpost.JPG, Old gatehouse & current signpost, Kahala side Image:FtRuger-stone-walkway.JPG, Stairs that led to the old Cannon Club Image:FtRuger-DiamondHead-Tunnel.JPG, Tunnel into Diamond Head Crater Image:FtRuger-view-toward-Kokohead.JPG, View over Kahala toward Koko Head

References

{{HIMilitary, state=collapsed Coastal artillery

Ruger Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., better known by the shortened name Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company based in Southport, Connecticut, with production facilities also in Newport, New Hampshire; Mayodan, North Carolina; and ...

Buildings and structures in Honolulu Territory of Hawaii

1906 establishments in Hawaii Protected areas established in 1983 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu

History

Images

See also

References