Closed to the public since May 15, 2019, construction is nearing completion on the upgrades and amenities being added to the historic Fort Fremont Preserve on St. Helena Island.
The project improvements at the site include the construction of an interpretive center to provide an educational experience for visitors to the facility, which will also house many artifacts and display items representing the Fort’s history.
The scope of work also includes the installation of a picnic pavilion, which has already been completed, along with walking paths and public restrooms.
The site superintendent with Savannah Construction and Preservation, who was awarded the contract for the improvements a few years ago, told us that they expect to be wrapped up with the work by the arrival of the New Year.
Fort Fremont is a Spanish-American War coastal defense artifact built in 1898 by the Army Corps of Engineers to defend the Port Royal Sound. It was built using local labor on condemned private property on Saint Helena Island across the Beaufort River from the Naval Station. It was designed to play a vital role in the protection of the strategic dry dock and coaling station which remained critical to the Atlantic Fleet during the Spanish American War period.
The historic significance of Fort Fremont is that it is representative of the new coastal defenses built during this period in U.S. History with a modern, upgraded design and new weapons systems.
The site and its historic ruins, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, were acquired in 2004 by Beaufort County Council into the County’s Rural and Critical Lands Program.
Learn all about the history of Fort Fremont here.
See more about Fort Fremont today here.
