This interesting octagonal wooden blockhouse was built on Davis Island, in the town of Edgecomb, 1808 and '09 to protect the seaport of Wiscasset. In those days, Wisecasset, with one of the deepest harbors in Maine, was one of the busiest shipping centers in New England. Shipping was vital to the young nation and the results were disastrous when it was caught between Napoleon's aggression and England's resistance to it.

The Federal Government surveyed the coastal defenses of Maine and Fort Edgecomb, where the channel of the Sheepscot River narrows, received major expansion. Across the river on Jeremy Squam (Westport) Island, in 1812, earthworks were thrown up and called Fort McDonough.

Fort Edgecomb was patterned after old English forts. On August 2, 1808, Secretary of War Henry Dearborn came to Davis Island and gave building directions. General Dearborn, a prominent Revolutionary and War of 1812 soldier, who marched to Quebec with Arnold, was land agent for the Bowdoin family and represented Maine in the Continental Congress.

The blockhouse was constructed with heavy timber. It is 27 feet on the first floor and 30 feet on the second. The first floor is pierced for the use of muskets, and the second has portholes, like the deck of a warship. The blockhouse stands as built except for necessary repairs. The stockade was rebuilt in 1961 and the powder magazine was, as a safety measure, filled with sand.

While there was no military activity here the War of 1812 proved that wooden blockhouses were not adequate for the national defense. The only time the 18 pound guns were fired was on March 4, 1809 for the inauguration of President Madison. - NRHP