Cape Jellison is a peninsula that juts into Penobscot Bay on the coast of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. In colonial times it was known as Wasaumkeag Point. It is part of the town of

Stockton Springs Stockton Springs is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,533 at the 2020 census. Stockton Springs is home to Fort Point State Park and Fort Point Light, both located on Fort Point, a peninsula on Cape Jellison. ...

, between Searsport and Bucksport, in the upper mid-coast region of the state. It was the site of the first port facility built by the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad.

Fort Point State Park

Maine's Fort Point State Park is located on Fort Point, a smaller peninsula extending eastward from the cape, that includes both the colonial-era

Fort Pownall A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and the Fort Point Light Station. In 1760, Massachusetts governor

Thomas Pownall Thomas Pownall (bapt. 4 September 1722 N.S. – 25 February 1805) was a British colonial official and politician. He was governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1757 to 1760, and afterwards sat in the House of Commons from 1767 t ...

led the construction of a fort on Cape Jellison, which he named

after himself. It was intended to secure the area for European settlement by driving off the remaining

Norridgewock Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...

and

Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic ...

Indians. No battles ever took place at the fort. In 1775, British forces seized the cannons and powder. Later, a regiment of continental soldiers burnt the blockhouse and filled-in most of the ditches to prevent their use by the British. On the eastern end of Cape Jellison, overlooking the mouth of the Penobscot River, is the Fort Point Light Station. This station was established in 1836 and automated in 1988.

External links

Map of Fort Point State Historic Site

References

Fort Point Bangor and Aroostook Railroad {{Maine-geo-stub