By Inconnu. Transféré du wiki fr sur Commons par historicair 11:41, 15 October 2006 (UTC) - Boldair, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1278293
Construction work started on Fort Douaumont in 1885, on some of the highest ground in the area and was continually reinforced until 1913. It has a total surface area of 30,000 m2 and is approximately 400 m long, with two subterranean levels protected by a steel reinforced concrete roof. Two main tunnels ran east-west, one above the other, with barrack rooms and corridors to outlying parts of the fort branching off the main tunnels. The fort was equipped with numerous armed posts, a 155 mm rotating/retractable gun turret, a 75 mm gun rotating/retractable gun turret, four other 75 mm guns in flanking "Bourges Casemates" that swept the intervals and several machine-gun turrets. Entry into the moat around the fort was interdicted by Hotchkiss anti-personnel revolving cannons located in wall casemates or "Coffres" present at each corner.
In 1914, Belgian forts were quickly destroyed by German artillery and easily overrun. 1915, the French General Staff concluded that even the best-protected forts of Verdun could not withstand German howitzers. The garrison was reduced and Douaumont was stripped of all its weaponry except for two turreted guns that were too difficult to remove.
On 25 February 1916, Fort Douaumont was entered and occupied without a fight by a small German raiding party comprising only 19 officers and 79 men, entering via an open window by the moat. The easy fall of Fort Douaumont, only three days after the beginning of the Battle of Verdun, shocked the French Army. It set the stage for the rest of a battle which lasted nine months, at enormous human cost.
Source: Wikipedia
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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.