Spanish-American War Fortifications

As tension mounted between the United States and Spain during the late 1890s, U. S. Representative Samuel Bronson Cooper of Texas recommended the War Department begin plans for the defense of the strategic Sabine Pass area. Maj. James B. Quinn of the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, was authorized to direct construction of two forts on land granted by Augustus F. Kountze. Work on the batteries was under way by May 1898, one month after the formal war declaration. Military efforts were coordinated with area residents by government engineer J. L. Brownlee. Although the emplacements were soon completed, the shore guns were never part of military action here. The Spanish-American War ended December 10, 1898, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Later efforts were made to locate permanently a military installation at the site following the war. The plans were dropped, however, by 1901. In 1913, fifteen years after the war, the fortifications were the site of a tragic accident, in which a Sabine boy was killed when an abandoned ammunition cache exploded. Evidence of the fortifications has been severely damaged by hurricanes, but the site remains a symbol of an important era in U. S. history.

Spanish-American War Fortifications is a historical marker in Sabine Pass, Jefferson County, dedicated in 1983. It is one of 109 historical markers documented in Jefferson County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 137 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.7333, -93.8745 near Sabine Pass. The nearest cataloged historic site is Fort Manhasset (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include World War II Coastal Defenses at Sabine Pass, Capture of the USS Morning Light and USS Velocity, and Dowling, Richard.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5245010568. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.