what they call torpedoes, we now call them mines, that were used in an elaborate system throughout casco bay because we know you-boats came along the bay in world war ii and the mines were manufactured two islands over on great diamond island and there is a wonderful building in place where you see the mines were manufactured and tested and there's a narrow gauge railway they would bring the mines to the water and bring them over here and store them. eventually the fort was put on the national register and i think it was 1971 the city of portland acquired the property and since then it's just remained sort of neglected and just recently the city has taken a renewed interest in the property and now we have the army corps of engineers here doing a hazardous mitigation program making it a safer place, due probably to social media, this place is on everyone's radar, everyone is curious about it and everyone wants to be here and experience this space. friends of the fort are seeing, first of all this place does not fall apart and we know we can save the structure and then it becomes making it acc

. >> today, we are in casco bay, one mile off the shore of portland maine and we are on hog island ledge, where they built the fort in 1858 to help defend the border. in 1865 andeted built with two other forts off to the south here. they resigned to work in conjunction with each other to defend the harbor. is aone thinks fort gorges civil war fort when it was funded long before the civil war . it was actually approved by congress and funded as a response to the war of 1812 which occurred much earlier. made,orges is a hand granite fort. if you looked at it from a top view looking down, you would see a gigantic d. what must people to realize is fort gorges is open in the middle. it has this wonderful parade grounds and there are people that of growing up their entire lives were never been here and think it is solid. the fort was named after sir fe gorges, the proprietor for the state of maine. i'm told he never set foot here. was modeleddesign after the forts being built at that time, fort sumter, the difference being sumter was built out of bricks and this is gigantic blocks of granite. t