Fort Delaware

For over 150 years there stood a huge Civil War fort in the middle of the Delaware River. At the time of its completion in 1859 it was the largest fort in America. It was built on a huge island that played host to 40,000 Confederates POWs. Sadly with the advent of missiles, satellites, and a bunch of other gizmos, it's been rendered obsolete for over 60 years. Presently it's the setting for legally insane people who play make believe in the 1860s. Aside from being every paintballer's dream come true, it just sits there begging for more attention and a battle that it never got. It is known as Fort Delaware. Now before we get into the details, it's not exactly New Jersey, but you can access it from the New Jersey side by a little ferry, so I'm going to count it.






Now if you're crossing the Delaware Memorial Bridge on a clear day and look down the river you will notice a huge island with a large building on it about 8-10 miles away. This large island is called Pea Patch island and was home to many Confederate POWs and silly southern sympathizers during the Civil War.







The history goes like this; after a bunch of mumble jumble and large mishap on the island the building that is standing there now was finished in 1859 and was the crown jewel of all forts in America at the time of completion. Not a single enemy boat dared to sail up the Delaware with that menace of a fort staring it down. Especially considering there were two more forts. One on each side of Fort Delaware forming a sort triangle defense against any daring invader.




Most of the POWs who surrendered at Gettysburg ended up at Fort Delaware or at least the surrounding area of it. Presumably there were around 40,000 prisoners by wars end and 3,000 would eventually die from boredom. Those fellows were all buried in a little cemetery that is kept quite nice, considering some of the cemeteries that I have seen in my short lifetime. The cemetery is on the New Jersey side, next to Fort Mott. It was actually the setting of a famous murder, how about that for irony. I believe the killer of the famous clothing designer Versacci decided to take a breather in the middle of no where, and killed the grounds keeper for his car. I honestly don't know how the hell he found this place. Most people wouldn't even be able to find the place with a GPS system in hand. Yea, it's that out of the way. If you do manage to find it though, you will be surprised by the interesting upkeep of this historic cemetery.


With that said, Fort Delaware can be reached by ferry from Pennsville, NJ. It is quite a unique place. This castle like structure is probably as close to medieval Europe most people in NJ will ever get. There is even a huge moat around it. Kind of interesting, because it's already on a damn island as it is. The best part about the fort is the huge draw bridge and cannons on the sides and top of the roof. It's pretty much every Dragons and Dungeons player's dream headquarters. Yea, it's that cool of a place. I have no idea why it took me so long to hear about this place, but when I did, I just had to check it out. Aside from all the history, architecture, moat on an island shenanigans, it's also a huge hot spot for ghost hunters. It's haunted by numerous ghosts, as one should suspect considering the horrible end many of the Confederates probably ended up meeting there. If you are brave enough to sneak away from the tour and not get noticed you will get to see the side of the fort that is off limits and really cool. The whole South side of the fort is pretty much dilapidated. Checking out this place is definitely worth the trip.

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This sweet little gem of history is definitely worth a visit. The ferry isn't exactly cheap, coming around 11 bucks and there isn't much food on the island. Aside from that, you can explore most of the fort on your own along with the entire island. Keep in mind the island is also a bird sanctuary, home to numerous wildlife.