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| Fort Wetherill |
| Newport, Rhode Island |
| Type |
Coast Artillery Post |
| Built |
ca.1800; 1941 |
Construction
materials |
reinforced concrete |
| In use |
1800-1945 |
| Controlled by |
United States |
| Commanders |
Col. Earl C. Webster |
Fort Wetherill (or Fort Dumpling) is a state park and former U.S. military defensive fort in Jamestown, Rhode Island at the entrance to Narragansett Bay on the island of Conanicut consisting of 51 acres overlooking 100 foot granite cliffs.
Fort Wetherill was previously known as Fort Louis (after King Louis of France) and Fort Dumpling after Dumpling Rock where it was originally built. During the American Revolution, Americans built earthenworks on the site, which the British and French later occupied. In 1800, the United States began building a defensive stone tower on Dumpling Rock, but ceased work after construction at Fort Adams began. In 1898 the site was developed by the government and named Fort Wetherill in honor of Captain Alexander Wetherill, a Jamestown summer resident who died in the Battle of San Juan Hill. During World War II, the federal government occupied the site and made further improvements. Rhode Island acquired the fort on August 16, 1972, and it became a state park.
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