Touch History (and get underground) at Fort Adams State Park
Written: Jun 21 '04
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Pros: interesting fort tour, experience the "listening tunnels", inexpensive, free parking
Cons: more tunnel time!
The Bottom Line: One of the most family friendly, educational, inexpensive and fun things to do while you are in Newport, Rhode Island, Fort Adams State Park offers plenty of options for visitors
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| jps246's Full Review: Fort Adams State Park |
If you’re in Newport, Rhode Island and you are looking for an inexpensive way to spend a few hours exploring some of our Nation’s history, then a stop at the Fort Adams State Park just might be for you. The park is located in Newport, Rhode Island away from the hustle and bustle of downtown and the opulence of the nearby Mansions. There is plenty of free parking and in addition to guided tours of the park, there are opportunities for picnicking, sunbathing, and boat watching in Narragansett Bay.
A Little History
The Fort is located in the southern portion of Newport, on a peninsula facing into Narragansett Bay and is thus surrounded on three sides by water. The fort was built in this strategic location to protect the bay, Newport’s harbor and Providence further up the bay. During the Revolutionary War, the area had been occupied by the British and so in response, the Americans after the war started increasing their coastal defenses. A small fort was built on the site of Fort Adams at that time. After the War of 1812, when Washington was burned by the British, coastal defenses were even more important and so the Navy began to build the current Fort Adams in 1824. At that time, Fort Adams was the largest fort built in America and it still is. It housed troops and protected the harbor from 1824 until 1950, from the Civil War straight through to World War II. Throughout all this service, there was never a direct attack on the fort, though a German submarine was sunk of Block Island to the south of the fort during World War II.
After 1950, the Navy abandoned the Fort and it fell into disrepair. At one point they were going to raze the structure, but the State of Rhode Island stepped in and acquired the property to protect the fort, a National Historic Landmark. Today those years of abandonment have left their mark (much of the fort is in disrepair), but the Fort Adams Trust (who now manage the park) have made inroads at restoring a significant portion of the fort.
Basics
The Fort Adams State Park consists of the fort itself, along with the surrounding area, making up a good size park in this developed area of Rhode Island. There are no entrance fees for the park, there are no parking fees and activities outside of the fort tour are free to users. There are several different parking lots available with different amenities nearby. The first lot you come to on the access road has restrooms and a picnic area on a bluff overlooking the bay. There is also an old battery of cannons below the bluff that you can take a look at (today they are used to store boats).
Beyond that first area, there are several soccer fields in the park as your drive further out along the peninsula, along with boat docking facilities on the bay side of the road. Towards the end of the road you reach a large parking area next to the fort and the fort’s visitor center. In the visitor center there are a few small exhibits on the fort’s history and the history of the area. This is where you purchase tickets for the tour of the fort and where you can find out about other activities in the park.
Beyond the visitor center you are free to walk the grounds of the park surrounding the fort. You can get several different views of the fort, the Bay and the Newport Bridge. There are plenty of places to lay out of a blanket in the sun and enjoy oneself.
There are no fees for the park unless you decide to take the tour of the fort itself.
The Fort Tour
Leaving every hour on the hour during the summer months, the Fort Adams tour leaves from the Visitor Center and enters Fort Adams through its main, seaward entrance. Each tour lasts just over an hour and costs $6 for adults and $4 or $5 for children, depending upon their age.
The tour involves quite a bit of walking and several of the areas that are explored are not handicapped accessible, including several rooms and the tunnels beneath the fort. A lot of the tour is outdoors, so dress appropriately depending upon the weather. You can get quite a sunburn if you aren’t careful (that’s from personal experiences). Wear comfortable walking shoes so that you don’t get sore feet by the end of the trip.
Your first stop is the main parade ground or inner yard of the fort – which at 6 ½ acres is huge. Standing in the middle and looking around is amazing, there’s just so much space. You travel around the inside walls of the fort, stopping at the former Officers’ Quarters, climbing the stairs to the roof to look over Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay, explore the restored casemates where the cannons were once housed, look through the Naval War College’s exhibit on the technological transformation of Narragansett Bay’s defenses over time, walk through the fort’s outer land based defenses and descend into the “listening tunnels” beneath the fort.
The tour is genuinely enjoyable and headed by a park employee. They are quite knowledgeable on the fort (there wasn’t a single question our guide couldn’t answer) and very attentive to the group as a whole.
The best part of the tour is the trip down into the listening tunnels. These tunnels were constructed so the troops could monitor whether or not the enemy were attempting to tunnel beneath the fort and attack that way. Men would be stationed in the tunnels 24 hours a day in complete blackness, listening for sounds of digging anywhere throughout the outworks of the fort. These tunnels range anywhere from about 4 feet wide a little over 6 feet high to about 3 feet wide and about 5 feet high. In the very smallest of the tunnels, I had to squat and crouch to make my way through. Flashlights are provided when you enter the tunnels and after you’ve made it deep into the tunnels, the guide asks you to turn off your lights for a minute, to get an idea of the inky blackness that the troops were stationed in. If you are claustrophobic or don’t like small places, these tunnels probably aren’t for you (the guide will ask beforehand if anyone wants to stay outside), but if you don’t mind that, then this alone (at least to me) was the best part of the whole tour. I would have liked to have spent the entire time exploring the maze of tunnels.
My Experiences
On my first trip to Newport, my partner and I decided to check out the Fort Adams State Park mostly because we were so overwhelmed with choices of things to do, that we settled on the fort because we were both interested in it.
It turns out that there was a boat regatta in the Bay just off the park the day we were there, so in addition to the fort and grounds, we got to sit out on the bank and watch the ships go by. Afterwards we signed up for the tour and started our trip into the fort. Our tour group was made up of only about 10 people, so the guide was able to talk to us all individually and handle all of our questions. We moved from area to area within the fort, learning about its construction, history and the restoration of today.
When we got to the tunnels, one member of our group was afraid (not the kids, one of the adults), so he stood outside while we all walked in, grabbed a flashlight and descended into the bowels of the fort. This was just too much fun and I almost wish the tour was all about these tunnels. They run all over the outworks of the fort and allowed soldiers to get between walls without surfacing and to listen for enemies trying to dig their way into the fort. The tunnels are finished off with brick walls and have dirt floors, the widen and narrow depending on the tunnel and when you turn off your flashlight and realize what soldiers had to navigate everyday, you really appreciate it.
Beyond the tour and the boat regatta, we took some time to stop at the various areas throughout the park, checking out the view from the picnic area knoll and watching a bit of a soccer game on one of the soccer fields. It was a great way to spend a better part of the afternoon. It was inexpensive, educational and fun and well worth the trip for me.
Final Thoughts
One of the most family friendly, educational, inexpensive and fun things to do while you are in Newport, Rhode Island, Fort Adams State Park offers plenty of options for visitors. From picnicking and boating to touring the old fort and exploring its tunnels, you’ll find something that you’ll enjoy at the park.
The tour of the fort is inexpensive and well worth the time and money. You’ll learn a thing or two about our Nation’s naval history and the history of Narragansett Bay.
Set aside a few hours to enjoy Fort Adams State Park and you’ll be happy that you did.
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: June-August
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Overview
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