Fortifications

Through the woods and up the hill in Fort Chaplin Park on Texas Ave. SE lie the well preserved remains of a fort that was never garrisoned and contained only one piece of ordnance. Completed in 1864, it was built on land owned by Selby B. Scaggs and named for Colonel Daniel Chaplin of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery who was killed at Deep Bottom, VA.

Colonel Barton S. Alexander, the second Chief of Defenses, believed that Fort Chaplin occupied an important position "which must be held when the city is threatened by a land attack." The land was returned to its original owner in 1865.