Fort Strong Fort Strong is a former U . S . Army Coast Artillery fort that occupied the northerly third of Long Island in Boston harbor . The modernization of the fort during the Endicott period of expansion in U . S . coast defense resulted in the installation of five 10 - inch guns ( in two batteries ) , two 4 - inch guns , and 10 3 - inch guns ( two in each of five batteries ) . Before WW1 , a large station for handling submarine mines and an anti - aircraft battery of 3 - inch guns were also added to the fort ' s defenses . At its peak , before WW1 , the fort was probably manned by over 1 , 000 soldiers . During WW2 , two batteries of 3 - inch guns ( Basinger and Stevens ) defended channel minefields , but the big guns and other 3 - inch batteries ( save for the AA guns ) were decommissioned . Declared surplus in 1947 , the fort was redeveloped in 2005 - 2009 for a children ' s summer camp . Formerly , it was also known as Long Island Military Reservation . Endicott period batteries which were located here : Antecedents . The fort had its antecedents in the pre - Civil War period and the Civil War itself . Until 1899 , the fort was named the Long Island Military Reservation . From 1874 to 1876 , the fort had a battery of 10 cannon , called the Long Island Head Battery , on the northeast tip of the raised northern portion of the island . Remains of this battery can still be found , concealed by heavy brush , about 100 ft . north of Battery Ward , the easternmost concrete battery on the tip of the island ( see the map of the " Obsolete Battery " at right ) . In 1893 , as part of the Endicott Board ' s recommendations , construction began at the fort on a series of massive concrete gun batteries to defend the harbor approaches . A large barracks building for the soldiers and a series of quarters for officers and NCOs were also constructed , as well as structures for mining operations and support functions at the fort . A quick look at the map will show how Fort Strong ' s central location made it so well suited for harbor defense . Its principal armament ( the 10 - inch guns ) could engage any ship attempting to enter either the northern or southern approaches to the harbor , while its smaller rapid fire ( 3 - inch ) guns could fire directly over all approach channels and the mine fields that criss - crossed them . Modern Gun Batteries . The major armament of Fort Strong were its two batteries of 10 - inch guns . Originally , two of these guns were located in Battery Ward , the easternmost concrete fortifications on Long Island Head , and three more in Battery Hitchcock , immediately to its west . One of Hitchcock ' s guns was later removed and sent elsewhere . The construction of these batteries , begun in 1893 , was completed in 1899 . Electrically powered ammunition and powder hoists were added soon after , and by 1906 , both batteries were fully functional . With a maximum range of between 7 and 8 mi . , these guns covered an arc from Revere to North Scituate , and could reach five miles or more out to sea from Long Island . The batteries were intended to engage medium and larger sized ships by indirect fire ( directed by the fire control system ) . Fort Strong also had four batteries of 3 - inch rapid fire guns ( M1902 ) , with two guns each ( or 8 guns in all ) . These guns were meant to engage faster moving targets by means of direct fire , and were sited to protect the mine fields that had been laid to block the harbor channels . They could deliver fire up to a range of 6 . 25 mi . Battery Stevens and Battery Smyth were located on the southeast side of the fort , looking out over the channel between Long Island and Hull . Battery Taylor was on the southwest side , looking out toward Spectacle Island , and Battery Basinger was located on the northern tip of the fort ( just downslope from the 10 - inch gun batteries ) , looking across toward Fort Dawes on Deer Island . The first three of these batteries were located in classic Coast Artillery 3 - inch gun emplacements , each with two raised gun platforms , one on either side of a large central casemated magazine . Battery Basinger , however , was squeezed into the narrow space above the sea wall , its gun platforms more like narrow tubs at the water ' s edge . This battery had a unique underground magazine with hand - operated chain hoists to serve ammunition to its two guns . All four of these batteries were completed between 1900 and 1906 . In November 1921 , Battery Smyth ' s two guns were moved to equip Battery Basinger . Later , the guns from Battery Taylor were moved to Fort Dawes on Deer Island . That left Batteries Basinger and Smyth as the only two that were operational through WW2 . Two other gun batteries were positioned at the fort . Battery Drum , part of the gun line on Long Island Head , mounted two 4 . 7 - inch Armstrong guns on pedestal mounts . This battery , which was located at the extreme northwesterly end of the gun line , was completed in 1899 , but its guns were declared outmoded and shipped away in 1917 . Also , a two - gun battery of Model 1917 - A2 3 - in antiaircraft guns was constructed on the northwest side of the parade ground during 1917 - 18 . In 1935 , a third gun was added to this battery , which remained active through WW2 . Each of the 10 - inch guns was supposed to be served by a full - strength complement of 43 enlisted men , so the five guns of the two batteries would have required a total of 215 crew . Manning the four 3 - inch batteries ( when all their guns were present ) would have required roughly another 100 men . Add to this the mine and searchlight defenses , the maintenance and support functions of the fort , and its officer , and about 450 soldiers likely manned the fort , living in large barracks buildings and smaller houses that surrounded the parade ground . The Mine Defenses . Fort Strong was a NIKE missile launch site in the 1950s , with the control site in Squantum . The Radar Section , 15th AAA Group , was there from January 1958 to June 1961 . This property had been owned by the Long Island Hospital , and is now operated by The Boston Public Health Commission .