Fort Morgan, History at the Tip of Mobile Point
Right at the tip of a long, narrow peninsula — where Mobile Bay meets the Gulf of Mexico — sits Fort Morgan.
It’s been there since 1833.
For those that know us, you kow that we both used to live in Fort Morgan.
Fort Morgan, Colorado.
So it was a treat for us to actually visit the ‘real’ Fort Morgan…in Alabama.
A Fort Built Into the Earth
Fort Morgan sits on Mobile Point, a scenic peninsula that stretches out into the water with the Gulf on one side and Mobile Bay on the other. The fort itself is star-shaped and built low into the ground — designed that way deliberately, to present the smallest possible target to enemy fire while maximizing the firepower aimed outward.
"Morgan 1833" — carved in stone above the entrance.
The massive exterior walls of Fort Morgan — brick, weathered, and still standing.
The thick exterior walls, studded with gun ports looking out toward the Gulf.
Construction began in 1819 and was completed in 1834. The walls are brick — five-sided, massive, and still largely intact nearly two centuries later.
Inside the Fort
Walking inside is something else. The interior corridors run under arched brick ceilings, one vaulted passage leading to the next.
Inside Fort Morgan, arched brick corridors that once housed soldiers and artillery.
It’s easy to stand in there and try to imagine it. The soldiers who ate, slept, and waited in these same passages. Hard to picture.
The Battle of Mobile Bay
Fort Morgan’s most famous moment came in August 1864. Union Admiral David Farragut led a fleet into Mobile Bay, determined to cut off one of the last major Confederate ports on the Gulf. Fort Morgan’s guns opened up. The fighting was fierce.
It was here that Farragut reportedly gave one of the most famous commands in American naval history — “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” — as his fleet pushed through the minefield and past the fort’s guns. Mobile Bay fell to the Union. Fort Morgan surrendered weeks later.
The Bread Oven
On the grounds, a large brick bread oven still stands — built to feed the garrison.
The fort's bread oven, still standing on the grounds.
A Freighter in the Bay
And out in Mobile Bay, a massive freighter passed while we were there — a reminder that this waterway has been moving ships for centuries.
A freighter passing through Mobile Bay, as seen from the tip of Mobile Point.
Hard to imagine what those same waters looked like in 1864.
Fort Morgan is worth every mile of the drive out to the point.
More from Gulf Shores to come!