The Fort
November 11, 1743, the General Court voted one hundred pounds for the erection of a fort in Gorhamtown.
Gorham's first settlers built a fort to protect themselves from the Indians. Tradition says it was near the present marker on Fort Hill. The fort was 60 feet by 50 feet with walls 12 feet high. It was built of hewn lumber flanked on the outside by palisades of large posts set deeply into the ground. It supposedly had two stories, the upper one projecting out 3 feet over the lower. In the projection were loopholes where defenders could fire down on anyone attempting to set the fort on fire or break open the door.
The roof was nearly flat and pitched to collect water.
At the fort were two six-pound swivel cannons for defense against the Indians and for alarming the adjoining towns of Buxton and Windham.
Close to a dozen families lived within these walls.
Gorham's first settlers built a fort to protect themselves from the Indians. Tradition says it was near the present marker on Fort Hill. The fort was 60 feet by 50 feet with walls 12 feet high. It was built of hewn lumber flanked on the outside by palisades of large posts set deeply into the ground. It supposedly had two stories, the upper one projecting out 3 feet over the lower. In the projection were loopholes where defenders could fire down on anyone attempting to set the fort on fire or break open the door.
The roof was nearly flat and pitched to collect water.
At the fort were two six-pound swivel cannons for defense against the Indians and for alarming the adjoining towns of Buxton and Windham.
Close to a dozen families lived within these walls.
