About Fort Morris State Historic Site
Fort Morris State Historic Site preserves the earthwork defenses built to protect the colonial seaport of Sunbury and the Medway River during the American Revolution. In November 1778, when British forces demanded the fort's surrender, Patriot commander John McIntosh answered with the challenge “Come and take it!” The British withdrew but returned with a stronger force, and Fort Morris fell after bombardment in January 1779. The position was later reused as Fort Defiance during the War of 1812.
Visitors can walk through the surviving earthworks, look across the coastal marshes toward Saint Catherines Sound, and explore a museum and film that explain both the fort and the vanished port town it defended. Trails, picnic areas, birding opportunities, and the quiet river setting add to the experience, but the principal attraction is the ability to stand inside an authentic Revolutionary-era defensive landscape rather than a modern reconstruction.
