Fort Ruger is a fort on the island of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

that served as the first military reservation in the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

. Named after Civil War General

Thomas H. Ruger Thomas Howard Ruger (April 2, 1833 – June 3, 1907) was an American soldier and lawyer who served as a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he was a superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New ...

and built in and around Diamond Head Crater, the fort was established by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for the purpose of defending the harbor of its newly

annex Annex or Annexe refers to a building joined to or associated with a main building, providing additional space or accommodations. It may also refer to: Places * The Annex, a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada * The Annex (New H ...

ed territory. The fort was established in 1906 as Diamond Head Reservation and renamed Fort Ruger in 1909.

History

Fort Ruger was the site of Battery Harlow, armed with eight 12-inch mortars. The fort's prominent location on Diamond Head made it a natural

fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

station, with several posts built into Lēʻahi Peak. The Fort is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, with portions of the site still being used for training by the

Hawaii National Guard The Hawaii National Guard consists of the Hawaii Army National Guard and the Hawaii Air National Guard. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. Those functions range f ...

.Alt URL
/ref> Few of the original buildings survive. The most striking are three sets of stone structures that mark former gates to the fort. On the

Waikiki Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

side, there is a pair of gateposts on either side of the sidewalk and a square stone bunker across the street with a gun slit in the outside wall and with

crenel An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out ...

s and

merlon A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...

s along the top, as if it were a

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

in a European castle. On the Kahala side is a larger stone gatehouse with rounded edges of the kind popular in the 1930s. Between them, on the

Kaimuki Kaimukī is a residential neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. History In the 19th century the area was a farm of King Kalākaua, where ostriches roamed wild over the mountain side. It later became the site of a carnation farm f ...

side, is a purely decorative structure, a circular stonewalled planter with two jagged stone arches intersecting at 90-degree angles. It now stands at the edge of the Kapiolani Community College parking lot, but was once flanked by two large gun barrels.Brown, DeSoto. (2003), "Fort Ruger" in David Cheever and Scott Cheever, ''Pōhaku: The Art & Architecture of Stonework in Hawaiʻi'' (Honolulu: Editions Limited), pp. 88–89.

Images

Image:Diamond-Head-Hawaii-Nov-2001.jpg, Aerial view of Diamond Head Crater Image:Diamond Head Bunker.jpg, Bunker on ridge of Diamond Head Image:FtRuger-outside-slope-bunker.JPG, Battery Harlow as seen from Diamond Head Road Image:FtRuger-old-gatepost.JPG, Old entrance gatepost, Waikiki side Image:Honolulu-FtRuger-gatebunker.JPG, Old gate guardhouse, Waikiki side Image:FtRuger-stone-art-planter.JPG, Stone artwork, Kaimuki side Image:FrRuger-Kahala-gatehouse-signpost.JPG, Old gatehouse & current signpost, Kahala side Image:FtRuger-stone-walkway.JPG, Stairs that led to the old Cannon Club Image:FtRuger-DiamondHead-Tunnel.JPG, Tunnel into Diamond Head Crater Image:FtRuger-view-toward-Kokohead.JPG, View over Kahala toward Koko Head

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Coastal artillery

Ruger Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., better known by the shortened name Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company based in Southport, Connecticut, with production facilities also in Newport, New Hampshire; Mayodan, North Carolina; and Presco ...

Buildings and structures in Honolulu Territory of Hawaii

1906 establishments in Hawaii Protected areas established in 1983 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu

History

Images

See also

References