Fort Delaware is a harbor defense facility built in 1859 on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. During the American Civil War, the Union used Fort Delaware as a prison for Confederate prisoners of war. The fort and the island currently belong to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and encompasses a living history museum, located in Fort Delaware State Park.

History of Fort Delaware
In 1794, the French military engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant was surveying for defensive sites. He identified an island that he called Pip Ash “as an ideal site for the defense of the prize of American commerce and culture”.

The island that L’Enfant called Pip Ash was locally known as Pea Patch island. This island was mostly unaffected by humanity with one exception. Dr. Henry Gale, a New Jersey resident, used Pea Patch as a private hunting ground. Gale was offered $30,000 for the island by the US military, but he refused. The military was determined to get the island, so they appealed to the Delaware state legislature, which seized the island from Dr. Gale on May 27, 1813.

Fort Delaware Today
Delaware acquired the fort from the United States government in 1947 after the Pentagon declared it a “surplus site”. Today, Fort Delaware State Park encompasses all of Pea Patch Island, including the Fort. Transportation to the island is provided via ferry. Once at the island, visitors are brought to the fort on a jitney. Tours and special programs are available to visitors. For example, visitors may see one of the fort’s cannons fired. There are workers who interpret the roles of people who were at the Fort during the American Civil War.

Beach erosion affecting Pea Patch Island was recognized as a potential threat to the Fort in 1999. The United States Army Corps of Engineers erected a 3,500-foot-long seawall during the Winter of 2005-2006 which now protects the historical fort site and a migratory bird rookery, considered to be the largest such habitat north of Florida.

Fort Delaware has its share of ghost stories and has recently been under investigation for paranormal activity. The Sci-Fi Channel investigation series Ghost Hunters conducted two cases there including a live televised investigation on Halloween in 2008.

The British series Most Haunted also did an investigation of the fort in their 11th series of the show.

In September of 2008 Delaware’s premier paranormal investigation team, Delaware Ghost Hunters, entered the walls of Fort Delaware to partake one of the Fort’s first ‘private’ investigations. The evidence found can be found here.

A major announcement will be coming soon for those interested in the paranormal and the historic Fort. Stay tuned to DelawareGhostHunters.com for details, coming in the near future.

Source: Wikipedia

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