Fort Constitution and Portsmouth Harbor Light

State Historic Site At The Mouth Of Portsmouth Harbor Beside An Active US Coast Guard Station; In December 1774 Colonists Raided The Fort, Then Fort William And Mary, And Carried Off Its Gunpowder, One Of The First Overt Acts Of The American Revolution; The Adjoining Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse Is A Cast Iron Tower Of About 1878 Opened For Volunteer Led Climbs On Some Summer Days. · New Castle, New Hampshire

A small state historic site on the tip of New Castle island, at the mouth of Portsmouth Harbor, where the granite walls of an old coastal fort sit beside a working US Coast Guard station and a white cast-iron lighthouse. Under the British the post was Fort William and Mary, and in December 1774, after Paul Revere rode north with word that troops might be sent to secure it, hundreds of local men stormed the fort, overpowered its tiny garrison and carried off its gunpowder, with a second party taking cannon and arms the next day. The raid is counted among the first overt acts of the American Revolution, months before Lexington and Concord. The fort was later renamed Fort Constitution and rebuilt several times, and today visitors walk freely around its walls, gun positions and harbor views. The adjoining Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, a cast-iron tower dating from about 1878 on a site lit since colonial times, is opened by volunteers for climbs on some summer days. Entry is on foot past the Coast Guard gate, parking is tiny, and the grounds are free.

25 Wentworth Road, New Castle, New Hampshire, 03854, United States

The fort grounds are generally open daily from about 9 am until dusk or 5 pm, all year, with no staff and no fee (confirm current hours, which follow the Coast Guard station's access rules). Access can be closed without notice for Coast Guard operations, security levels or storm damage. The lighthouse tower is normally closed and is opened only on scheduled volunteer open-house days, typically some Sundays from late spring to early autumn during the afternoon, with occasional special events; confirm the dates each season, as they change and are cancelled in bad weather. In winter the grounds may be icy and are rarely visited.

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