Editorials

One of the most impressive sites in our state is Fort Morgan. Begun in 1819, the year Alabama entered the Union, and completed in 1834 — no doubt with delays and budget overruns — it was one of the two installations that guarded the mouth of Mobile Bay. (Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island is the other.) In addition to being a state attraction, Fort Morgan is a National Historic Landmark, so designated because of its architectural significance and the role it played in the Civil War.

But Fort Morgan's service did not end with its surrender to Union forces. Rebuilt after the pounding it took in that conflict, it remained an active military post. It saw service in the Spanish-American War, and from 1900 to 1923 and during World War I it housed the state's largest permanent military garrison. It also saw limited duty in World War II.

Today visitors to the site cannot only see a magnificent building with its cannon pointing out to sea, they can learn at a museum that chronicles the military history of the fort with uniforms, maps, weapons and letters. They can wander through the maze of corridors and chambers and get a sense of what it was like to be there back then.

And they can see our heritage crumbling around us.

Fort Morgan suffers from state neglect.

In the aftermath of the defeat of Amendment One, Alabama had to cut back, and one of the agencies cut most was the one that oversees our parks and historic places. Some sites, like St. Stephens, the location of our first state capital, were simply closed. However, most saw budgets cut and repairs delayed. Despite the economic boom we are enjoying, many state sites still are trying to recover from the lean years. The governor and the Legislature are not doing much to help them.

So critical are the needs of Fort Morgan that the Civil War Preservation Trust has listed it as one of the nation's 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields.

We all know Civil War sites are surrounded with controversy, largely because of people who want to put a contemporary spin on historical events. However, Fort Morgan is more than a Civil War relic. It played a role before and after that conflict. Despite what happened there in two bloody weeks in the summer of 1864, it can be and should be used to help us remember our whole history and the people who made it.

Today Alabama has a number of heritage groups that are active in support of various causes — from which flag to fly to which hero to honor. If they would use their considerable public support to lobby the Legislature to allocate funds to preserve Fort Morgan they would keep alive a visual reminder of our past and do a service to those who will visit it in the future.