Fort Stark

Fort Stark Historic Site is a coastal defense site on the seaward tip of New Castle, New Hampshire, guarding the entrance to the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor. The site preserves gun batteries and fortifications from multiple eras.

Walkable concrete and stone batteries, interpretive signage and cliff-top viewpoints provide access to the site’s military architecture and wide views over the Atlantic and Portsmouth Harbor. The area is suited to short hikes, photography and historical interpretation.

Fortifications have occupied the site in some form since colonial times; surviving visible structures represent late 19th- and 20th-century coastal-defense projects that were active through World War II. The site is now managed as a historic area for public education and recreation.

Located at the outer tip of New Castle island, the site sits at the mouth of the Piscataqua River near Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

• Multi-era batteries: The site preserves coastal batteries and observation positions used from the 19th century through World War II; interpretive signs explain the different construction phases.

What to See #

• Gun batteries: Concrete and stone gun batteries, observation points and remnants of coastal-defense works spanning late 19th- and 20th-century fortification programs.
• Trails and viewpoints: Coastal walking paths and picnic areas along the seaward tip of New Castle with views across the mouth of the Piscataqua River toward Portsmouth and the Atlantic.