By User:Magicpiano - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77969085
Fort Howard was a military installation located on the North Point peninsula, overlooking the main channel of the Patapsco River leading into the harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. Although militarily important since the early 19th century, its surviving elements and name date to the Spanish-American War. It was named by Elihu Root, Secretary of War under President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1902 after Colonel John Eager Howard (1752–1827). The installation earned the nickname the "Bulldog at Baltimore's Gate", serving as the coastal artillery headquarters for Baltimore, Maryland. Fort Howard's historical significance is its military connection with the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, and World War II.
It is the beach-head location of the British expeditionary marine forces landing during the War of 1812 on September 12, 1814 in the Battle of Baltimore. As of 2023, this remains the largest invasion in US history. The advance was temporarily stalled by resistance from the Maryland Militia. They fell back to more substantial dug-in fortifications and eventually outlasted the British, who never returned to Baltimore.
The fort grounds are now divided between a public park, which encompasses the sites of its batteries, and the non-public grounds of the former Fort Howard Veterans Hospital, which are in the process of redevelopment.
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One of the oldest roads in the state, Fort Road was originally built by the federal government after Fort Ridgely was completed in 1853-54. Supplies were shipped from Fort Snelling to Traverse des Sioux, then transported by wagon to Fort Ridgely.
Nicollet County Road 5 runs more than 42 miles from its eastern terminus at its intersection with US Highway 169 in St Peter to the Renville County line. Old Fort Road presumably extended from Traverse des Sioux, although the portion running through the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College has been blocked off. Fort Road as an address runs from the western edge of St Peter to the end of CR-5.
In an ideal world, a paved trail would have been installed when the road was refurbished in the early 2010s. This planned geocache trail will have to suffice, but won’t alleviate my anxiety when biking here.