Fort Adams State Park

The current masonry Fort Adams was built 1824–1857, but the site has been fortified since 1776, when Rhode Island constructed earthworks to guard the entrance to Narragansett Bay. During the Revolution, British forces used the fortified position to control harbor access throughout their 1776–1779 occupation. The site's commanding position over the East Passage explains why control of Newport's harbor was so strategically significant to both sides.