Fort Trumbull Today
Fort Trumbull is once again the dominant feature of the high ground overlooking the Thames estuary as it joins Long Island Sound. From the 1930s to the late 1990s -- six decades -- the fifteen acres surrounding the Fort were occupied by an expanding cluster of Merchant Marine, Naval, Coast Guard and research buildings that rendered the massive Egyptian-revival granite walls of the Fort all but invisible, whether from the land or the harbor.
The Naval Underwater Sound Laboratory, which occupied many of the buildings, was re-named the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in 1970 when it merged with a research center by that name in Newport, RI. The Fort Trumbull Laboratory closed in 1996 when it was consolidated with the Rhode Island operations.
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In 2000 the Fort and its grounds became a Connecticut State Park under the jursidiction of the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. Virtually all vestiges of the officers school and Naval Undersea Warfare Center were replaced by lawns and walkways, returning the Fort to something resembling its appearance in 1852.
McGinley, Kalsow & Associates of Somerville, Mass., architectural and preservation consultants, prepared the master plan for the park, oversaw restoration of the granite structure, its Egyptian Revival features and batteries, and designed the Visitor Center displays. The park website may be found at: www.ct.gov/deep/forttrumbull
The first major event in the new park occurred during Operation Sail, 2000, when four tall ships docked at the piers (see photos below.) Concerts by the U.S. Coast Guard Band always draw large crowds. A seasonal water taxi stops hourly at the piers between May and September in a loop with stops at New London's City Pier and Groton's riverfront. The Fort is also one of several sites comprising Thames Valley Heritage Park.
The Coast Guard training barque Eagle ties up at Fort Trumbull when not at her Academy wharf upriver, on a cruise, or undergoing maintenance. In 2017 the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole and the icebreaker Thunder Bay were docked at the Fort during the Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival.
Wikipedia is a valuable resource for the history of the Fort with links to the history of America's 19th century seacoast fortifications.
A group of volunteers maintains a support organization, the Friends of Fort Trumbull. The website offers historical information, a photo gallery, information about a speakers series, and a map, and may be viewed at www.fortfriends.org
The U.S. Maritime Service Officers School memorial stands to this day on a waterfront site near Fort Trumbull, not far from its original location. An annual commemoration of National Maritime Day is held here on May 22.
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