Details for Spanish-American War Fortifications
Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5245010568
Data
| Marker Number | 10568 |
| Atlas Number | 5245010568 |
| Marker Title | Spanish-American War Fortifications |
| Index Entry | Spanish-American War Fortifications |
| Address | Sabine Pass Battleground |
| City | Sabine Pass |
| County | Jefferson |
| UTM Zone | 15 |
| UTM Easting | 415591 |
| UTM Northing | 3289389 |
| Subject Codes | Spanish American War; forts; military topics |
| Marker Year | 1983 |
| Recorded Texas Historic Landmark | No |
| Marker Location | |
| Private Property | No |
| Marker Condition | In Situ |
| Marker Size | 27" x 42" |
| Marker Text | As tension mounted between the United States and Spain during the late 1890s, U. S. Representative Samuel Bronson Cooper of Texas recommended the War Department begin plans for the defense of the strategic Sabine Pass area. Maj. James B. Quinn of the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, was authorized to direct construction of two forts on land granted by Augustus F. Kountze. Work on the batteries was under way by May 1898, one month after the formal war declaration. Military efforts were coordinated with area residents by government engineer J. L. Brownlee. Although the emplacements were soon completed, the shore guns were never part of military action here. The Spanish-American War ended December 10, 1898, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Later efforts were made to locate permanently a military installation at the site following the war. The plans were dropped, however, by 1901. In 1913, fifteen years after the war, the fortifications were the site of a tragic accident, in which a Sabine boy was killed when an abandoned ammunition cache exploded. Evidence of the fortifications has been severely damaged by hurricanes, but the site remains a symbol of an important era in U. S. history. |