Fort Macomb is a 19th-century United States brick

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, on the western shore of

Chef Menteur Pass The Chef Menteur Pass is a narrow natural waterway which, along with the Rigolets, connects Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne in New Orleans, Louisiana. It begins at and follows a generally southeastward course. In the days of sailing ships, muc ...

. It 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 ...

. The fort is adjacent to the Venetian Isles community, now legally within the city limits of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. This community was some miles distant from the city when first built and is still distant from the main developed portion of the city.

History

Chef Menteur Pass is a water route from the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ; ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from w ...

and the lakeshore of

. (The other route is the

Rigolets Rigolets is a deepwater strait in Louisiana. "Rigolets" comes from the word ''rigole'', French for 'trench' or 'gutter'. The name is now locally pronounced "RIG-uh-leez". The strait begins at and follows a generally eastward course to Lake Bo ...

; both straits connect Pontchartrain to the Gulf via

Lake Borgne Lake Borgne ( ; , ; ) is a lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico in southeastern Louisiana. Although early maps show it as a lake surrounded by land, coastal erosion has made it an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Geography In southern Louisiana, three large ...

.) An earlier fort at the site was called Fort Chef Menteur. The United States built the current

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

fort in 1822, just seven years after British forces invaded the New Orleans area from the sea, at the close of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. It was named Fort Wood in 1827 renamed Fort Macomb in 1851, for General Alexander Macomb, former Chief of Engineers and the second

Commanding General of the United States Army Commanding General of the United States Army was the title given to the service chief and highest-ranking officer of the United States Army (and its predecessor the Continental Army), prior to the establishment of the Chief of Staff of the Unit ...

. The small fort shaped like a pie wedge has a curved front facing the channel; the curve overlaps the two straight walls, forming demi-bastions. At the salient of the two straight walls is a full bastion facing landward. The fort was surrounded by two wet ditches (moats) with extensive outworks between the ditches. On the parade stands a

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

, a defensive barracks. A

garrison took control of and occupied the fort starting on 28 January 1861 early in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. In 1862 the Union Army regained control of the fort and also occupied New Orleans. In 1867 the

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

caught fire, after which the fort was largely abandoned by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. It was decommissioned in 1871.

Preservation

The fort and its land are now owned by the State of Louisiana. While some efforts were made to open it to limited tourism in the late 20th century, the decaying condition of the fort was judged too hazardous for public visits. The similar but better preserved Fort Pike, some away at the

, is the regional coastal fort that is open to visitors. (currently closed for budget reasons.) Fort Macomb 2016

A portion of the fort's old

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

had been turned into a canal as part of a small

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

. The wakes from incoming and outgoing boats were wearing away the outer wall of the fort and accelerating the structural damage.

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

destroyed the marina in 2005. The fort is now protected by

riprap Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...

. It needs structural stabilization to reverse the previous damage. In February 2013 a group of 97 students and their chaperones from Oakland County, Michigan helped clear the mud and debris caused by various hurricanes from the inside of the Fort.

Filming location

*The climax of the first-season finale of the 2014 television series ''

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American Anthology series, anthology Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto for the premium cable network HBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and ...

'' was filmed on location at Fort Macomb. *This site is also a filming location for the television series '' Into the Badlands'' in 2015. *In 2016,

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

filmed portions of her critically acclaimed visual album, ''

Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

,'' at Fort Macomb. * Aerial of Fort Macomb Nov 2019

Episode 17 of Season 4 of '' NCIS: New Orleans'' used the location for a concluding scene.

References

External links

Forts Macomb and Pike
Civil War Album website {{National Register of Historic Places History of New Orleans Louisiana in the American Civil War Government buildings completed in 1822 Military installations established in the 1820s Macomb National Register of Historic Places in New Orleans 1822 establishments in Louisiana Ruins on the National Register of Historic Places

History

Preservation

Filming location

See also

References

External links