74 Washington Street,
Eastport, Maine 04631
Hours: 1-4 Saturdays
In 1808, Major Lemuel Trescott oversaw the
construction of a garrison on a hill overlooking
the Eastport area. Adams Street today
borders the former location of this fort on the
north, High Street on the west, Sullivan Street
on the south, and Water Street on the east.
The only remaining evidence of the fort in this
location is the ruin of the Fort Sullivan Powder
House on McKinley Street, a short distance off
Adams Street. It is unclear for whom the fort
was named, but it was reportedly first called
Fort Sullivan in March 1813. The British
occupied Eastport and this fort from July 1814
until June 30, 1818. Fort Sullivan was used as
a military facility until 1873.
In 1877 the government sold the property at
Fort Sullivan. The northernmost officers'
quarters, built in 1809, was separated from
the other two sections of quarters and moved
to its present location at 74 Washington
Street. Another section was moved to Orange
Street, but it deteriorated and was destroyed.
The Washington Street building is presently a
museum owned and operated by the Border
Historical Society. Admission is free;
donations are happily accepted.
A tour of the Barracks Museum is worthwhile
as a study of early 1800's architecture and
construction. A visit will present much more
about Eastport, however. Each room is filled
with historical photographs and items, both
military and civilian, not only concerning Fort
Sullivan but also the sardine and ground
fishing industries. One room is dedicated to
the genealogy of this area. Open July, August,
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72 Water Street
Eastport, Maine 04631
Hours: 10 to 6 into Fall
The Passamaquoddy Tidal Power
Project/"Quoddy Dam" Project
A proposed development project for eastern
Maine, envisioned by hydroelectric engineer
Dexter Cooper, involving the construction of a
tidal harness for electricity generation was
initiated in 1935 under U.S. Public Works
Administration funding and with the blessing
of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
whose summer home was on nearby
Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.
Also known as the Quoddy Project, it
proposed impounding Cobscook Bay and
part of Passamaquoddy Bay with a series of
dams and control structures to exploit the
resulting water level difference to generate
electrical power. The electric turbines for
power generation would have been located at
the isthmus on Moose Island, Eastport, with
the water passing between Passamaquoddy
Bay and Cobscook Bay, with the "used"
generating water released from
impoundment at low tide.
Part of this project was completed by the
construction of dikes built between Pleasant
Point-Carlow Island-Moose Island. The
project was suspended one year later after
the United States Congress refused further
funding, thus the actual barrier dams never
being built. The dike barriers now underlie the
former Maine Central Railroad and the current
Maine Highway 190, as well as between Treat
Island (in Eastport) and Dudley Island (in
Lubec, Maine).
Several iterations and variations on the
project later ensued, but never began
construction.
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End of McKinley Street
off Adams St
Fort Sullivan was built in 1808 to defend
Eastport. The fort was taken by a British naval
force led by Admiral Hardy in 1814. Moose
Island was returned to the U.S. in 1818
Fort Sullivan and the Powder Magazine sites
contain archeological remains and, as it was
for the small band of American defenders,
offer amazing views of the passage taken by
the invading armada.
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