Fort Smith National Historic Site
A former frontier fort, federal courthouse, and jail complex tied to the expansion of federal law into Indian Territory.
DocumentedPublicCheck the source1 to 3 hoursChecked July 2026
Category · 16 field files · 16 states
Military sites
Documented military history with public interpretation: coastal batteries, harbor forts, Civil War battlefields, Cold War missile facilities, a battleship, and a submarine.
Material: cast concrete with formwork lines and moss. Brand imagery, not a photograph of any listed place.
- Access considerations
- Every military file is a park, historic site, or museum. Active military infrastructure is never mapped. Island forts depend on ferry and boat schedules.
- Safety considerations
- Dark passages, ladders, cliffs, waterfront weather, and battlefields with active roads and cemeteries. Use authorized routes only.
- Evidence expectations
- Documented. Battlefields carry a memorial sensitivity class and the restrained treatment that goes with it.
- Source-check status
- Most recent practical-details check in this category: July 2026. Conditions change. Check the primary source before leaving home.
State coverage
Military sites in Volume 01
Fort Delaware
A masonry fortress on Pea Patch Island that held Confederate prisoners during the Civil War.
DocumentedSeasonalTicketed3 to 5 hoursChecked July 2026Fort Jefferson
A massive unfinished coastal fortress rising from Garden Key, far beyond the end of the Florida Keys.
DocumentedTicketedFee or passFull dayChecked July 2026Antietam National Battlefield
The preserved landscape of the bloodiest single day in American history, with roads, fields, monuments, and a national cemetery.
DocumentedPublicFee or pass3 hours to full dayChecked July 2026Fort Knox Historic Site
A granite coastal fort with long passageways, vaulted chambers, and views over the Penobscot Narrows.
DocumentedSeasonalFee or pass1 to 3 hoursChecked July 2026Vicksburg National Military Park
A vast battlefield and siege landscape lined with earthworks, monuments, artillery, and the restored USS Cairo.
DocumentedPublicFee or pass3 hours to full dayChecked July 2026Battleship North Carolina
A preserved World War II battleship whose decks, machinery spaces, and crew compartments can be explored on a self-guided route.
DocumentedTicketedTicketed2 to 4 hoursChecked July 2026Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Site
Two preserved Cold War sites interpreting the crews, machinery, and routine behind a Minuteman missile alert facility.
DocumentedTicketedFee or pass2 to 4 hoursChecked July 2026Fort Robinson State Park
A sprawling former Army post tied to the Plains wars, military training, prisoner-of-war history, and the death of Crazy Horse.
DocumentedPublicFee or passHalf day or moreChecked July 2026Fort Stevens + Peter Iredale
A former coastal-defense fort paired with the rusting remains of the Peter Iredale shipwreck on the edge of the Graveyard of the Pacific.
DocumentedPublicCheck the source2 to 5 hoursChecked July 2026Fort Adams
A massive coastal fortification guarding Newport Harbor, with ramparts, casemates, and underground listening tunnels.
DocumentedPublicTicketed2 to 4 hoursChecked July 2026Fort Sumter
The harbor fort where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, reached today by authorized boat service.
DocumentedTicketedTicketed2 to 4 hoursChecked July 2026Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Preserved Cold War missile facilities that expose the machinery and human routine behind nuclear deterrence.
DocumentedPublicCheck the source2 to 5 hoursChecked July 2026Cold Harbor Battlefield
A preserved Civil War battlefield of trenches, walking trails, monuments, and a national cemetery.
DocumentedPublicFree1 to 3 hoursChecked July 2026Fort Worden Batteries
Concrete gun batteries, dark corridors, and empty emplacements built to guard the entrance to Puget Sound from the late 1890s onward.
DocumentedPublicFee or pass2 to 5 hoursChecked July 2026Wisconsin Maritime Museum & USS Cobia
A maritime museum anchored by USS Cobia, a preserved World War II submarine open through guided tours.
DocumentedTicketedTicketed2 to 4 hoursChecked July 2026