The ironclad USS Montauk sank the Rattlesnake at Fort McAllister. After delays, a 3D model of the Federal monitor is being produced for display at Georgia park

Early model of Montauk; section of blueprints (SCAD) and Professor Johnson describing its operations (Picket photo)

Jason Carter, site manager at Fort McAllister State Park in Richmond Hill, Ga., believes a model of the ironclad USS Montauk -- which prowled the waters and bombarded Confederate earthworks -- will be a cool educational tool at its visitor center.

Carter would like to see it positioned next to an old model of the CSS Nashville (Rattlesnake), a commerce raider the Montauk blew out of the water in February 1863.

Greg Johnson says completing and printing a precise 3D model of the Montauk -- one of 10 Passaic-class monitors -- will be a boon for graduate student Wilson Han, who is in his gaming class at the nearby Savannah College of Art and Design.

“A legacy piece,” Johnson says of the effort.

And Han (left), a native of China, is likewise excited by the project, which involves modern technology and a bit of old-fashioned model-making.

“I am always interested in history,” he says.

Now, five years after Johnson visited the park and met former interpretive ranger Mike Ellis, the dream of having a Montauk model is finally close to reality. Han has been working on the model design for the past couple months, using Autodesk Maya software. Han said April 1 the modeling is going well but slowly because of a busy college quarter.

The original goal of the project was to create compelling interpretive panels, a 3D ship model and film that explained the role of USS Montauk and other innovative Federal monitors in the siege of Confederate outposts on the Atlantic Ocean, specifically Fort McAllister.

The plan turned out to be too ambitious, given SCAD graduations and the complexity of work, which ran up against limited class time. Still, a half dozen wall panels and a schematic of the Montauk were created by SCAD students and installed in late 2022.

Work on a model stalled after that, but when I reached back out in December to Johnson, interactive design and game development professor at SCAD, he asked for contact information for park leadership (Ellis had left by then) and I connected him with Carter.

Jason Carter measures CSS Nashville exhibit to aid in model for Montauk (Picket photo)

Carter met with Johnson and Han at the park on Feb. 1 to discuss the 3D model, and I tagged along. The professor explained a previous student had made a 3D model for in-game simulation (for the film) but that aspect never came to fruition. Hence, the current effort to convert that to a printable 3D model.

Johnson stressed the work would be tedious, that Han would have to check all specifications and ensure the model was ready for printing.

“I have to be certain to do the job right,” Han told the Picket.

Accuracy is paramount, says Johnson, who located the likely paint scheme for the ironclad

“It will be down to the bolt,” he says of the reproduction.

The Nashville was trapped near this bend in the Ogeechee River (Picket photo)

Key to the whole effort – for the wall display and the model – is something Ellis found by chance several years ago.

Finding blueprints was a stroke of fortune

Ellis, now a guide and trainer for Old Towne Trolley Tours in Savannah, recalls being in a storage area at Fort McAllister in 2017. There were piles of documents and papers everywhere.

“As rangers come and go, things get lost to time,” he says.

Ellis went through some of them and found a matted long tube. Inside: A precious copy of the USS Montauk’s blueprints, manufactured in dozens of sheets.

One of numerous photos of blueprints shows turret (Courtesy Greg Johnson)

“I knew immediately what is was,” says Carter. Now the staff could upgrade the monitor exhibit, putting a facsimile of the blueprints on one wall.

Everything clicked during Johnson’s visit to the site. “Me and Greg spent a better part of the day taking photos of (the blueprints) in detail.”

They used a custom-built rig to slide dozens of sheets under a camera to obtain high resolution.

“These images were then processed, enhanced and stitched together using photo editing tools to make the panels,” Johnson says. The image could then be used for the wall, model or the film.

Showdown on the Ogeechee was one-sided

USS Montauk receives fire from Fort McAllister as it hammers the Nashville

Andy Hall, A Civil War naval expert and author, told the Picket the Passaic monitors were the first large-class of monitors and many of them served together, such as the campaign against the earthen Fort McAllister in 1863 and 1864.

The Union navy, as it continued its chokehold on Southern ports and readied for offensive operations, sent the Montauk and sisters Passaic, Patapsco and Nahant, supported by gunboats Seneca, Dawn and Wissahickon to bombard and capture Fort McAllister in January 1863.

The skipper of the Montauk was John Worden (left), famous for being the USS Monitor’s captain when it clashed with the CSS Virginia in 1862.

Capable Confederate gunners at Fort McAllister hit the ironclad 13 times in its first action, but caused little damage. A second attack on Feb. 1, 1863, found the vessel, according to histories, pounded by 48 shells. The Montauk's sister ships also took part in the action.

Its big day came on February 28. The sidewheeler Nashville, which was bottled up and hiding under the guns of Fort McAllister for protection, tried to get away from the Federal ironclads via Seven-Mile Bend on the Ogeechee River, but apparently ran aground.

The 215-foot blockade runner commanded by Lt. Thomas Harrison Baker became a sitting duck because of its lack of maneuverability and deep draft in a tight area, and the Montauk pounced.

“All the monitors were designed for littoral or riverine operations, and so drew as little water as possible,” says Hall. “Nashville was built as an ocean-going steamship, so had a fuller, deeper hull.” That proved to be a disadvantage at McAllister.

Montauk’s XV- and 11-inch Dahlgrens were able to destroy the former commerce raider.

Worden was pleased with his destruction of ‘this troublesome pest’” wrote John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center in a blog.

“However, Montauk suffered a huge jolt when it struck a Confederate torpedo en route down the Ogeechee River. Worden’s quick thinking saved his ironclad.” (Quarstein’s new biography of Worden will be published April 15).

The Union naval attacks on Fort McAllister itself were less successful. The low-profile earthen fort could withstand the shelling and repairs could be readily made.

While the Montauk was scrapped in the early 1900s, the park grounds and museum have a large number of CSS Nashville artifacts.

USS Montauk (left) and USS Lehigh in Philadelphia in 1902 (Wikipedia)

And in this corner, weighing in at . . .

On the afternoon of my visit, Carter, Johnson and Han -- who is majoring in game development and interactive design -- met in a conference room and a museum gallery that houses the wall panels, artifacts and the CSS Nashville model.

Carter used a tape measure to get the dimensions of the Nashville display case. That was to help ensure the Montauk 3D model would be built in the proper scale (1/78).

Wilson Han and Professor Johnson are working from this paint scheme (Courtesy Steven Lund)

“This makes the USS Montauk model 30 11/16th inches or 780mm in length,” Johnson wrote in a later email. The ironclad, he says was slightly asymmetrical

Carter provided these vital statistics for the two warships:

Montauk, 200 feet long, beam 46 feet, draft 10 feet

Nashville, 215 feet long, beam 34 feet, draft 20 feet

While the monitors were mass-produced, they did undergo changes during the service, and SCAD students wanted to be sure the appearance of the Montauk matched the time it prowled off Fort McAllister.

SCAD is working from a Montauk paint scheme described in the work “Modeling Civil War Ironclad Ships” by Steven Lund and William Hathaway. 

The deck is lead gray, the turret and pilot house black with a narrow white ring, and the smokestack black with the upper one third in dark green.

To distinguish them, all 10 Passaic ironclads had some color variations.

Sources for such information on paint schemes are difficult to find, says model maker and writer Devin J. Poore.

“Black is very popular, (while) gray and white were used in really hot areas.”

3D printing is not for the faint of heart

Converting an item intended for a game to a 3D printable object requires numerous revisions.

The former are designed with much higher resolution so they can be used in interactive entertainment. Former SCAD student Collin Drilling created the original image of the USS Montauk. It had about 10,000 “holes;” he worked from May and Zbrush software.

Han’s task was to bring down the resolution and fine tune the details. Johnson had worked on the turret, and his student used that as a guide.

A version of the Montauk model before Han's work to modify it for printing (Courtesy SCAD)

Preparing the model for 3D printing is one thing, but ending up with a worthy final product is another. Lots of things can go wrong in printing – and often do, the SCAD team says. Plastic can shrink during the process, the printer footing may be off and a misfeed can occur.

The printer is like a dot matrix and the artist must determine how many pieces he should make for the ironclad model and figure in joints for assembly. While Han wants to keep it to perhaps one to three pieces, some items require more, says Johnson.

Poore (photo below) told the Picket the quality of any model, handmade or 3D designed and printed, depends on the skill of the modeler.

“3D models come off the printer needing sanding, priming, assembly, etc. Depending on how much work you put into the process depends on the result. There are certain benefits that 3D printing can have over hand making, such as pretty much guaranteed right angles and symmetry, but then again you have to worry about how to actually print a piece so that it comes out cleanly, and so that it won't warp in the future,” he says.

This project is a mix of newer and old technology. While the printing will produce the frame of the ship, finer pieces such as chains and rigging will need to come for a model kit or the like.

And the painting is definitely old school; Johnson said he expects to assist with that.

Passaics were primo, but had limitations

For Fort McAllister, the Montauk model will help further its education of visitors on the fort and various Federal attempts to subdue it.

Lund said the innovation and quality of the Passaic class made for the best monitors.

“Although two of the 10 produced were lost, some of them soldiered on into the 20^th century. At least two were recommissioned to serve as harbor defense vessels in the Spanish-American War. One of them, the USS Camanche, guarded the San Francisco Bay during that conflict. She was sold for scrap in 1908 and her hull functioned as a coal barge as late as WW II.”

A model of the U.S.S. Carondelt being made for 3D printing (Courtesy Devin J. Poore)

Poore says the Passaic monitors were a stepping stone in warship development but were underutilized and not appropriate for most situations they encountered..

“For the work needed on the Atlantic coast, i.e. reducing forts, they weren't the best candidates. They were built to fight Confederate ironclads, and simply didn't see much action in that regard, due to the limited number of Confederate opponents.”

Poore is in the process of making his first full-blown printed ironclad, the city-class U.S.S. Carondelet. The vessel had notable service in the Western Theater.

Devin J. Poore's model of the USS Weehawken (Courtesy of the creator)

Ravaged by war, erosion, time and World War II bulldozers, Fort Fisher will celebrate its resilience and new earthworks Saturday with 160th anniversary events

Reproduction 32-pounder was installed this week; note the two guns amid traverses (Fort Fisher SHS)

As a native of Wilmington, N.C., Chris Fonvielle grew up amid sand, surf and history. He recalls climbing all over Fort Fisher, the Civil War sentinel a few miles to the south.

Fonvielle (pronounced fawn-vull) eventually immersed himself in the study of Confederate blockade running, coastal operations and Fort Fisher, thought to be nearly impregnable as the “Gibraltar of the South.” And, as fate would have it, he still walks all around the site -- as an occasional tour guide.

Fonvielle and fellow author Rod Gragg will be among the speakers Saturday at Fort Fisher State Historic Site’s observance of the 160^th anniversary of the bastion’s fall to Union forces, hastening the South’s defeat in the four-year conflict.

"As the guardian of Wilmington -- the sole surviving major seaport in the Confederacy -- Fort Fisher was indispensable to the South, and was a critical lifeline that Northern forces had to sever,” Gragg, author of the seminal “Confederate Goliath: The Battle of Fort Fisher,” told the Picket.

Union forces attempted to take Fort Fisher -- built by enslaved persons on a peninsula between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean -- in December 1864, but naval guns failed to reduce artillery positions and the attack was called off. But success came on Jan. 15, 1865, after an effective and sustained bombardment.

“That knocked out all the heavy artillery that otherwise would have devastated the ground troops,” said Fonvielle.

What followed was the largest amphibious assault before World War II. Union troops rolled up defenders, leading to surrender.

The victory cut off blockade runners and the last supply line through Wilmington to Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. U.S. Colored Troops were among those taking part in the attack. 

The big draw Saturday will be the new 20,000-square-foot visitor center and reconstructed earthworks that opened late last year. Programming includes artillery and infantry weapons demonstrations, guided tours, reenactors and book signings (see schedule below). The Friends of Fort Fisher are sponsoring the event.

The state park whomped up excitement Wednesday by announcing it installed a second reproduction 32-pounder cannon between the newly reconstructed seventh and eighth traverses.

“In the coming months, we will continue fleshing out these new earthworks with ground cover and interior decorations for the bombproof shelter exhibit,” Fort Fisher said in a Facebook post.

The site had closed in April 2024 to allow completion of the visitor center and the recreation of three traverses, bombproofs, a powder magazine and the sally port.

(Trails map modifications showing new traverses/ Dennis Gast)

Fort Fisher’s use during World War II helped the Allied cause but destroyed some of its familiar defensive traverses. They were removed to make way for an airstrip when the area was used for training anti-aircraft and coastal artillery units. Much of the fort was lost to erosion from the shifting Atlantic Ocean.

“It’s been a dream down here to rebuild this segment of earthworks since the 1960s. We finally did it,” Fort Fisher site manager Jim Steele told McClatchy News.

He spoke to the news service about the Southern effort to create the immense sand fort.

Building and repairing went on nonstop during the four-year war, which required the enslaved laborers to rotate through for weeks or months at a time, Steele said.

Montage of Timothy O'Sullivan photos of traverses; click to enlarge (Library of Congress)

The three new traverses, as with the original six, were the scenes of heavy, close-quarters combat as Union troops pushed east on Jan. 15,1865.

Chad Jefferds, Fort Fisher’s assistant site manager, said Saturday's weapons demonstrations will occur at Shepherd’s Battery, which guarded the western end of the Rebel defenses.

“We will be conducting both infantry and artillery demonstrations during the weapons demos at Shepherd’s Battery,” he told the Picket. “The infantry will show how units maneuvered in the field and fire blank rounds from reproduction muskets (mostly Springfields or Enfields), while artillery will show the process of loading and firing along with how each cannon crew member functioned. We currently anticipate having a 10-pounder Parrott rifle, along with the site’s 12-pounder Napoleon and 32-pounder firing blank charges.”

Admission to the site and programming is free, with the exception of $10 to take part in an “Above the Scenes” tour. Site historian Ray Flowers leads the walk, which delves deep into the experiences of those who lived, labored and fought at Fort Fisher, and gives visitors the rare opportunity to climb the fort’s earthen mounds.

Reenactors will be in an interpretive camp in Fort Grove, said Jefferds.

Books by Fonvielle (right), a retired educator, include “The Wilmington Campaign: Last Rays of Departing Hope” and “Fort Fisher 1865: The Photographs of T.H. O’Sullivan.”

He and co-author Bob Browning will discuss their new “Fort Fisher Illustrated: Art of the Battle.”

The paperback features lithographs, engravings, drawings and other dramatic illustrations made after the battle.

 “People knew because of the media coverage how important Wilmington was,” said Fonvielle.

Here is the current schedule for Saturday:

10 a.m.: Weapons demonstration at Shepherd’s Battery

10:45 a.m.: Presentation and book signing by Chris Fonvielle and Bob Browning, “Fort Fisher: Art of the Battle” (Orientation Theatre)

11 a.m.: “Above the Scenes” guided tour, leaving from main entrance breezeway.

Noon: Weapons demonstration at Shepherd’s Battery

12:45 p.m.: Presentation and book signing by Rod Gragg (left), “Cold Steel and the Butt of a Gun: The Fall of Fort Fisher” (Orientation Theatre).

"Commemorative events such as the 160th anniversary of the battle of Fort Fisher help us to remember our history and to learn from those who came before us," said Gragg.

1 pm.: “Above the Scenes” guided tour, leaving from main entrance breezeway.

2 p.m.: Weapons demonstration at Shepherd’s Battery

2:45 p.m.: Presentation and book signing by Angela Zombek, “Suspicious Characters and Captured Combatants: The Experiences of Prisoners of War” (Orientation Theatre)

3 p.m.: “Above the Scenes” guided tour, leaving from main entrance breezeway

4 p.m.: Weapons demonstration at Shepherd’s Battery

The site will be open Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., with public program being held between 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The visitor center is located at 1610 S. Fort Fisher Blvd. in Kure Beach. With an expected large crowd, the site recommends carpooling. Limited extra parking will be available at Battle Acre Road. Tickets for the “Above the Scenes” guided tour can be purchased at the first-floor information desk in the visitor center. Concessions will be provided by the Federal Point History Center.

Below: One of the reproduction 32-pounders points to the visitor center to its north (FFHS photo)

North Carolina's Fort Fisher will reopen Wednesday after six-month closure for completion of new visitor center, notable rebuilding of earthworks section

A gun emplacement is ready for a replica 32-pounder to be installed (all photos Fort Fisher SHS)

Drier weather in the past month – following damaging rainfall in mid-September – allowed construction crews to complete recreated earthworks ready for the reopening of Fort Fisher State Historic Site near Kure Beach, N.C, this Wednesday.

The Civil War site’s new two-story visitor center and the earthworks will open at 9 a.m. Guided tours will be held throughout the day. Patrons will be able to walk up new replica gun emplacements

The site closed in April to allow completion of the visitor center and the recreation of three traverses, bombproofs, a magazine and the sally port. Fort Fisher’s use during World War II helped the Allied cause but destroyed some of its familiar defensive traverses. They were removed to make way for an airstrip when the area was used for training anti-aircraft and coastal artillery units.

Last month, about 18 inches of rain created a cascade of mud at the earthworks site, delaying the site's opening by several weeks.

Rifled and banded pieces are put in place in view of the new visitor center

Everything is complete except one artillery emplacement, said assistant site manager Chad Jefferds.

“Once things dried out enough, (crews)  had to go about getting the dirt that had washed down back onto the mound. This allowed for the carpenters to construct the gun emplacements. It was impressive how quickly they finished everything in light of where things were immediately after the storm,” he said.

Bordeaux Construction of Morrisville, N.C, was the main contractor. The company's Facebook page last week had this account of the placing of artillery.

“The cannon installation was very smooth; it only took around 30 minutes – but it required a 125’ crane with roughly 6,000 lbs of counterweight to be able to get it into location. The carriage had to sit on a 'pintle block' (a concrete column with a cast iron pin about 2” wide on top. There was a hole for this pin under the carriage that was the same size. This took some precise positioning, but we were able to set it (in) one smooth motion.”

Fort Fisher was built on the peninsula between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean, south of Wilmington. It is best known as a crucial coastal bastion for the Confederacy.

On Jan. 15, 1865, after a naval bombardment, the Federal army attacked from the western, river side while Marines pushed in from the northeast bastion.

Essentially everything between Shepherd’s Battery on the western end of the fort’s land face and the center sally port were the scenes of intense fighting during the US Army’s assault.

The three new traverses, as with the original six, were the scenes of heavy, close-quarters combat as Union troops pushed east.

The fall of the "Gibraltar of the South" cut off blockade runners and the last supply line through Wilmington to Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

The new visitor center stands about 100 yards from the fort wall. It is just north of the east-west line mounds of earth known as traverses. Much of the eastern part of the fort has been claimed by the ocean. 

There is no admission charge for visiting Fort Fisher, but donations are accepted..

Regarding the visitor center, “New sections covering the time before Fort Fisher as well as the span of time between the Civil War and WWII are where we had to bring in the most new artifacts,” Jefferds told the Picket.

“The story is the same and Fort Fisher is obviously the central theme, but the way it’s told is different. We’ve tried to tell the story of Fort Fisher through the eyes of the people who lived, worked, fought and died here.”

The next big event on the site's calendar is the 160th battle anniversary on Jan. 18, 2025. Interpreters will be stationed in the new earthworks.

In case you are wondering whether the weather will again play high jinks for the opening: The forecast for Wednesday calls for partly cloudy skies in the Wilmington area.

Rain-heavy storm drops a bomb on earthworks being recreated at North Carolina's Fort Fisher. It will take several more weeks for crews to fix erosion, finish project

South entrance of sallyport tunnel, bombproof tunnel at far left left; earthworks looking toward visitor center,
gun emplacement at top right; click to enlarge (Photos courtesy Fort Fisher State Historic Site)

Historic rainfall along a stretch of North Carolina’s coast heavily eroded replica earthworks going up at Fort Fisher, creating a cascade of mud and delaying the opening of a new visitor center by at least a month.

Communities south of Wilmington – among them Kure Beach and Carolina Beach – received more than 18 inches of rain in 12 hours on Sept. 16. The National Weather Service said such inundation occurs once every 200 years.

Fort Fisher State Historic Site now says the park reopening, originally set for this Friday, will be pushed back until the earthworks are completed. Officials are not sure when that will occur.

A bleak view of the north end of the sallyport tunnel, amid shifted dirt and debris

“There has been a fair amount of damage around the site due to flooding/storm damage. Some trees and limbs came down, along with some pieces of the (replica) palisade fence,” said assistant site manager Chad Jefferds.

The visitor center roof had a small leak and the road to a park maintenance facility was washed out. “The sand in the washout was essentially quicksand.”

By far the biggest damage was to the unusual earthworks project.

The site closed in April to make way for completion of the visitor center and the recreation of three traverses, bombproofs, a magazine and the sally port. Fort Fisher’s use during World War II helped the Allied cause but destroyed some of its familiar defensive traverses. They were removed to make way for an airstrip when the area was used for training anti-aircraft and coastal artillery units.

View from the visitor center to the north parking lot on Sept. 16.

Jefferds said beyond scraping away much of the muck at the earthworks site, the contractor must wait for the proper moisture levels for replacing dirt. “It’s not a simple process.”

“The Underwater Archaeology Branch facility sustained some damage from water intrusion. There are many homes on the island that took major flood damage and some condos have been condemned,” said Jefferds.

A photograph the site posted to social media on Friday was taken last Monday from the front of the visitor center facing north toward the parking lot. “Our thoughts are with all those affected by the storm,” the park wrote.

Entrance to the sallyport tunnel as the storm is happening, fallen tree elsewhere

The state historic site near Kure Beach will feature a two-story visitor center and museum..

Fort Fisher was built on the peninsula between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean, south of Wilmington. It is best known as a crucial coastal bastion for the Confederacy.

On Jan. 15, 1865, after a naval bombardment, the Federal army attacked from the western, river side while Marines pushed in from the northeast bastion. The fall of the “Gibraltar of the South” cut off blockade runners and the last supply line through Wilmington to Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

The new Fort Fisher visitor center, opening Sept. 27, will tell a wider story. Crews at the North Carolina Civil War site are rushing to finish recreated earthworks

New visitor center, Civil War map along staircase to the second floor and a colorized version of a Timothy O'Sullivan photograph of a damaged Fort Fisher traverse (FFSHS)

(Editor's note: The park announced Sept. 20 the opening is indefinitely postponed due to flooding damage from a tropical system)

A new and larger visitor center at Fort Fisher below Wilmington, N.C., will provide a broader and more people-centric history than the previous venue, officials said.

The state historic site near Kure Beach recently announced the two-story visitor center and its museum will open on Sept. 27. The park closed in April for construction of the 20,000-square-foot visitor center and for an usual rebuilding of earthworks.

“There are a few more items in the Civil War section, but the new sections covering the time before Fort Fisher as well as the span of time between the Civil War and WWII are where we had to bring in the most new artifacts,” assistant site manager Chad Jefferds told the Picket.

Fort Fisher was built on the peninsula between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean, south of Wilmington. It is best known as a crucial coastal bastion for the Confederacy.

A Whitworth gun on the first floor of the visitor center (FFSHS)

On Jan. 15, 1865, after a naval bombardment, the Federal army attacked from the western, river side while Marines pushed in from the northeast bastion. The fall of the “Gibraltar of the South” cut off blockade runners and the last supply line through Wilmington to Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. U.S. Colored Troops were among those taking part in the attack.

Essentially everything between Shepherd’s Battery on the western end of the fort’s land face and the center sally port were the scenes of intense fighting during the US Army’s assault. The fighting went from along the traverses from west to east and was often hand-to-hand.

Fort Fisher’s use during World War II helped the Allied cause but destroyed some of its familiar defensive traverses. They were removed to make way for an airstrip when the area was used for training anti-aircraft and coastal artillery units.

Construction crews are working to complete recreations of three traverses, bombproofs, a magazine and the sally port, Jefferds said. “The dirt being brought in has to dry out to a certain level before it can be used, but the weather has not been conducive. Hopefully it will be ready for our grand opening, but it’s no guarantee at this point.”

Sally port tunnel on far left during traverse reconstruction. At far right is historic traverse (FFSHS)

With the three traverses will come two gun emplacements, which will each have a heavy cannon, along with two 12-pounder Napoleons in the center sally port.

The new visitor center stands about 100 yards from the fort wall. It is just north of the east-west line mounds of earth known as traverses that were part of the defenses. Much of the eastern part of the fort has been claimed by the ocean. 

“Not only will visitors be able to see the majority of the remaining traverses from the second floor, they will also be able to see them as they approach from the parking lot. This is one of the main reasons for the first floor being perpendicular to the second floor,” said Jefferds.(bombproof recreation, below)

The visitor center’s first floor has a welcome desk, gift shop, restrooms and staff offices.

The second floor houses the main exhibit gallery as well as a temporary exhibit gallery that will change regularly. It  is home to an information desk, an orientation theater, restrooms and a multipurpose room that can be used for a classroom space, banquets or wedding receptions.

Among the wall displays is a colorized Timothy O’Sullivan photo of the fort taken shortly after its fall.

“That particular photo is of the 4^th traverse along the land face of the fort, likely where the fort’s commander Col. William Lamb was wounded,” said Jefferds. “It really shows the carnage that abounded here after the U.S. Navy’s bombardment and ensuing land battle, with the broken cannons and debris scattered all around.”

I asked him whether the venue will tell the same story, with some twists.

“The story is the same and Fort Fisher is obviously the central theme, but the way it’s told is different. We’ve tried to tell the story of Fort Fisher through the eyes of the people who lived, worked, fought and died here. We’ve also enhanced the coverage of the time before the Civil War as well as the time after, all the way through WWII when the fort served as a training facility for antiaircraft and coastal artillery units.”

Parking and admission at the site is free. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The building is wheelchair-accessible and an elevator goes to the second floor.