Fort Preble

Fort Preble is a military fort in South Portland, Maine. It is now on the campus of Southern Maine Community College.

Henry A. S. Dearborn built this second-system fortification as an "embargo fort" in 1808 and named it in honor of Commodore Edward Preble. Along with Fort Scammel, it was built to enforce the unpopular trade embargo that President Thomas Jefferson enacted against Great Britain by preventing Maine merchants from trading with the English. In October 1808, Dearborn ordered a company of soldiers to occupy the fort and instructed them to do whatever was necessary to enforce the Embargo Act against embargo-breaking ships. The embargo was finally lifted in March 1809.

Photo 93, Oct 2010

Fort Preble

Photo 98, Oct 2010