Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter | |
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape) | |
View from north in 2009 | |
Fort Sumter Location in the United States Fort Sumter Location in South Carolina | |
| Location | Charleston Harbor, South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°45′8″N 79°52′29″W / 32.75222°N 79.87472°W |
| Area | 234.74 acres (0.95 km2) |
| Built | 1829 |
| Visitation | 857,883 |
| Website | Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000101 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated HD | April 28, 1948 |
Fort Sumter is an incomplete sea fort at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, where the battle that sparked the American Civil War took place. Built on an artificial island in 1829 in response to the War of 1812, which had exposed the inadequacy of American coastal defenses, it remained unfinished on April 12, 1861, when attacked by Confederate Forces and greatly damaged. Efforts at rebuilding after the civil war never completed the fort's original plan, but since the middle of the 20th century it has been open to the public and operated by the National Park Service.