Fort Washington!

Fort Washington was built about 200 years ago to defend the river approach intoWashington, DC.  Right on the Potomac river, it's a pretty magnificent place to explore.

It was first built in 1809, but destroyed in 1814.  It was rebuilt in the early 1820s, and added onto in the 1840s.  Many men were stationed here, sometimes as many as six hundred, and sometimes just one.  Not one gun was fired in battle from this fort. 

This is the entrance into the fort.  It has a drawbridge!!!  So cool. 

The crank/pulley system for raising the drawbridge!  From 1820!!!

Looking over the Potomoc River.

Across the river is the homeplace of George Washington!  DC is off in the distance
to the right, following the river.

In the 1840s, renovations were done, and this caponniere was built.  A cannon was in here,
behind where I'm standing, totally enclosed by walls, pointing out a small window.
( I can only imagine how loud the echo would have been if a cannon had been shot!) 
At the farthest, darkest part of the tunnel was a bathroom.

I was especially fascinated with the brick floors, both in the caponniere and here in the
front entrance way.  One can't help but imagine how many feet have run across these floors!

The stone walls were built in the 1820s; the brick work added extra height
and protection in the early 1840s.

The view of the fort from near the Potomac River.

I'm pretty sure that this mound was a magazine, a place to store gunpowder. 

Here Aidan is kindly demonstrating for us a historical reenactment of an attack, to help us grasp how formidable such a place might be, with its brave, strong, defending young men.

 

The water bottle, I find, is especially formidable.

Climbing from the river up to the side of the fort.

A side view of the drawbridge, with more of the fort in the background.

It was a fascinating place!  We took a tour of the fort which was very informative, stamped our lovely National Park Passport booklets, and also participated in a science experiment on exactly how much a human can sweat in one afternoon.