fort curtis

Fort Curtis is a 3/4's scale of the original fort located 2 1/2 blocks NE of its current location. The fort has several large cannons mounted on platforms. From the fort you can see Batteries B & C which is how and where the Battle of Helena was fought July 4, 1863. If at the fort be sure to visit the Moore/Honor home which is about 60% restored which is right across the street to the west. The Moore/Hornor house was in the midst of the Helena battle with many wounded soldiers in the yard and there is a bullet hole in the door separating the living room from the parlor.

I'm not a civil war enthusiast but I do find the history of the southern states very interesting. I had gone to a fort in Tennessee or Louisiana a couple years ago that I found interesting because it was so quiet and I just let my imagination run wild. Thus fort is dug into the ground and once you enter you can feel or imagine what it might feel to be hunkered down in a dug out fort. Here are several signs around that explain points of interest inside the fort. I was going to just drive by but it was worth getting out and walking around in order to learn a bit of history.

Not what you think of when you think of forts - it is a reproduction of the original but helps bring history to life -

Fort Curtis is a reproduction of the original Fort that was built in summer of 1862 (the original Fort Curtis was a mile nearby with a plaque on the site). It was one of five earthwork fortifications built for the defense of the area by Union forces. This rebuilt gives insight to what a fort was like during the Civil War. In the front of the port, several plaques that give info about this history of the fort, the contraband slaves who built the original fort in three months and the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863.At various spots inside the port additional plaques with great info (did you know that during the Fort birth until the end of the war the US flag changed three times?), reproductions of the cannons, the well and grounds.The fort among several Civil War sites in Helena and close to one of the Battery.There's a small parking lot across the street. The fort is in a neighborhood and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nice stop for history bluffs while in the area