Fort Banks ( Massachusetts ) Fort Banks was a U . S . Coast Artillery fort located in Winthrop , Massachusetts . It served to defend Boston Harbor from enemy attack from the sea and was built in the 1890s during what is known as the Endicott period , a time in which the coast defenses of the United States were seriously expanded and upgraded with new technology . Today , the Fort Banks Mortar Battery is on the National Register of Historic Places . The fort was active during World War II as the site of the Harbor Defense Command Post ( HDCP ) for the Boston Harbor defenses , and was greatly expanded with numerous temporary structures ( see 1938 map at top left ) . Because of its campus - like appearance and the fact that it was located on land , close of Boston , the fort was known as " The Country Club " by Coast Artillery soldiers pleased to be posted there . Fort Banks was named for Nathaniel P . Banks , a Civil War general , the 24th Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a former Speaker of the U . S . House of Representatives . Construction . In 1892 construction began on the fort ' s four mortar pits , each of which was to hold four of the huge , new 12 - inch coast defense mortars , each capable of firing a half - ton projectile over six miles out to sea , effectively commanding the northern approaches into Boston Harbor . Construction on the mortar emplacements was completed in 1896 , making this the oldest Endicott period fort in Boston ' s harbor defenses . The two eastern mortar pits were designated as Battery Sanford Kellogg and the two western ones as Battery Benjamin Lincoln , making these the first Endicott gun batteries to be completed in Boston and the first 12 - inch coast defense mortar batteries to be completed anywhere in the U . S . The mortars were taken out of service in 1942 , and in 2007 the fort was added to the National Register of Historic Places The four mortar pits were laid out in a design known as an " Abbot Quad , " which contained the 16 mortars in a sort of " square - of squares . " This arrangement was designed such that if all the tubes were aimed in parallel and fired at the same time , in a huge salvo , they would bracket an attacking ship with fire , somewhat like a huge shotgun blast . Since each shell could weigh over half a ton , a 16 - mortar salvo of over 8 tons of explosives was hoped to be a decisive deterrent to ships approaching the northern channels into Boston Harbor . In fact , the Army had planned to build two 16 - gun Abbot Quad arrays at Fort Banks , but ran out of budget before being able to complete that project . The Mortars . The 1890 M1 ( Model 1 ) 12 - inch mortars at Fort Banks were some of the most powerful coast artillery pieces of their era . They were able to fire either high explosive or deck piercing shells . The former weighed 700 lbs each , and the latter weighed in at either 700 or 1 , 046 lbs . These mortars , firing the heavier shells at an elevation of 45 degrees , had a range of 12 , 019 yds . ( about 7 miles ) . Each M1809M1 mortar on an M1896 carriage ( as at Fort Banks ) weighed a total of 78 . 5 tons and was intricately geared to enable it to be turned ( in azimuth ) and raised or lowered ( in elevation ) . The shock wave from firing one of these weapons , echoing off the enclosed walls of the mortar pit , was often so strong that it destroyed sensitive equipment mounted near the pit , broke nearby windows , and knocked doors off of nearby structures . When a mortar battery like those at Fort Banks was fully manned , guidelines called for two mortars in a pit to be manned by a pit commander , two mortar squads of 17 enlisted men each , and an ammunition squad of 16 enlisted men . One of the last versions of the manual for this mortar gives details on how it was crewed and fired . The photo of Kellogg Pit B at top right clearly shows another unusual feature of the mortar pits — the data booth . This small concrete room , built into the western wall of the pit , with its tapered viewing slits , is visible just left of center in the photo . This booth received and passed to the mortar crews the data ( azimuth , elevation , and powder charge ) that had been calculated in the plotting room by the Range Unit as settings for the mortars in order for them to hit their targets . Batteries . The batteries included surface pits , underground magazines , and connecting corridors of the Fort Banks mortar batteries . The mortar pits , flank magazines , and underground corridors are not open to the public . Battery diagram . The battery diagram is displayed with east at the top . For an idea of scale , the measurement running west from the easternmost ( outer ) edge of the wall at the top , down the center of the central corridor to the westernmost ( outer ) edge of the wall at the bottom , is roughly 430 feet . To orient this diagram to the current ( 2010 ) surface geography , the point at which the central east - west and north - south galleries cross is approximately here : ( ) . Looking at the diagram , one can see that the original mortar pit walls , completed in 1896 , were much narrower than those that can be seen today ( and which were rebuilt in the period 1910 - 1914 ) . This enlargement of the pits took place because it was found that the smaller design did not allow enough room for the mortars to be properly served . Originally , the two central ( east - west and north - south ) corridors completed in 1896 were to have provided the only ammunition and powder storage for the batteries . Indeed , blueprints from 1896 show rows of stored shells drawn - in along these corridors and in some rooms ( see 1896 blueprint detail in photo Gallery below ) . A total of some 1248 3 - foot shells , 624 3 . 8 - foot shells , and 208 5 - foot " torpedos " were indicated as planned to be stored in the corridors . An extensive system of shell trolleys ran through the magazine rooms and corridors , to transport the heavy shells out to the pits . The 1910 - 1914 modifications added a series of lever - operated switches to some of these shell trolleys ( see two trolley / switch photos in Gallery below ) , so that different stacks of shells could be accessed . The section view in the blueprint image below also illustrates how these shell trolleys were intended to work . The 1910 - 1914 work added flank shell and powder storage rooms to both batteries and also a central magazine to Battery Lincoln ( see plan above - right , with dimensions ) . These additional rooms are at the surface on the Battery Lincoln ( west ) side , but underground for Battery Kellogg ( on the east ) . Although on the Battery Lincoln side the roofs of these magazines are today on the surface , originally all of these magazines were covered with 10 to 20 ft . of earth , as protection against enemy shells and bombs . This new construction expanded the magazines ' storage capacity by a tremendous amount . The old ( 1896 ) corridors offered about 3 , 500 sq . ft . of storage . The new work added almost 15 , 000 sq . ft . of new storage capacity . World War II . Fort Banks was the WWII location for an anti - aircraft defense command post , a meteorological station , and a bunker holding the " secure " central switchboard for the Harbor Command ( see photo in gallery , below ) . At one time , the fort became the base for the Army ' s 9th Artillery Regiment . It also had a 250 - bed hospital . After the fort was declared surplus by the Army in 1947 , its land was purchased by the Town of Winthrop and by private developers for municipal facilities and apartment uses . Cold War . In the 1950s Nike anti - aircraft rockets were based on the site and n 1959 , the Martin AN / FSG - 1 Antiaircraft Defense System for the Fort Heath radar station was partly set up at Fort Banks for a < a href = " Semi - Automatic % 20Ground % 20Environment " > SAGE / [ [ Missile Master ] ] test by [ [ NORAD ] ] . Historical marker . A plaque on the site , provided by the Fort Banks Preservation Association and located just outside the portal to Battery Kellogg Pit B , recounts a terrible accident that took place in one of the mortar pits on October 15 , 1904 , during a practice firing . The plaque indicates that a charge went off prematurely in one of the mortars without the breech of the mortar being closed and locked , killing four and injuring nine others . Today , the flank magazines of Battery Kellogg are crowded with debris left over from former service as a Town - sponsored " haunted house " at Halloween , and have temporary plywood walls with doors and windows added here and there . Much of this space is occupied by left - over materials stored by the town . On the western ( Battery Lincoln ) end , the two mortar pits have been filled about half way up and paved over , and are now used as parking lots ( see photo above , at right ) . The central magazine casemate , which sticks out between the two pits , housed the Harbor Defense Command Headquarters during World War II . The rooms inside this casemate have suffered fire damage ( likely from vandals ) , leaving them littered with charred wood and other debris ( see photo below ) . The rooms of Battery Lincoln ' s flank magazines have been renovated and are now used by the maintenance department for the nearby condominiums ( as shown below ) . The lower central corridors between the batteries are mostly clear of refuse . Today , almost all traces of the fort except for the mortar pits and magazines have been destroyed . Of the four mortar pits that originally made up the armament of the fort , only one survives in close to original condition : Pit B of Battery Kellogg ( the northeast pit of the quad ) . A good deal of the original floor of this pit is still visible ( see photos in the gallery , below ) , due to excavations by the town in 1992 . The western two pits have been partially filled and then paved over for parking , while the southeast pit ( Battery Kellogg , Pit A ) has been covered up by a new building . The Winthrop Dept . of Public Works ( DPW ) now occupies part Battery Kellogg and uses some of the former magazines for storage , while parts of Battery Lincoln are used for offices and storage by property managers for the nearby apartments .