Whale Bay Fort and Battery

Whale Bay Fort and Battery, in West Whale Bay Park (at the end of Whale Bay Rd., open sunrise to sunset daily, admission free), makes a beautiful sidetrack from a trip west. Once known as Fort Newbold for its commanding officer, Captain William Newbold, the half-moon-shaped fort was constructed in the mid-1700s, when the several small coastal forts were built on the South Shore before the American Revolutionary War.

Today, its actual walls are gone, but the flag-stoned gun floor where it once stood remains a spectacular vantage point, overlooking West Whale Bay [1] and the dramatic sweep of ocean on the southern face of the island. Both the fort and nearby battery, built a century later, guarded the entrance to Hogfish Cut, a channel for small boats that was of value to local shipping as vessels traveled the western coast toward Dockyard [2].

The battery’s impressive walls, barracks, and underground magazine rooms are still standing and can be explored. Leave mopeds at the beach parking lot and climb the hill to the forts.