Fort Heiman, Kentucky: 2002 Photographs

The photographs of the remains of Fort Heiman presented here were taken on June 8th, 2002.



This sign is located approximately one-half mile to one mile from the entrance to Fort Heiman. As you can see beneath the sign, there is information pertaining to the unfortunate development of the fort.



This sign is located approximately a few hundred feet past where the original entrance sign (this can be seen above) was located.



As difficult as it is to tell from this photograph, this is a trench. Upkeep on the Fort leaves much to be desired.



Another trench that has been taken over by underbrush.



This is a wonderful view of the Tennessee River was taken atop one of the many hills that comprise the Fort. This isn't too far from where the cemetery and ammunition bunker used to be.



Same as above.



This is a view of the Tennessee River taken not far from the cemetery and ammunition bunker. There is pretty much a straight drop to the river. When the water-level of the lake was low you used to be able to see the remains of an old road that existed, to my best guess, around the time of the War.



Same as above.



This is a trench directly across the road from the above photos. If you look very hard on the right of the photo is the road leading to where the cemetery and ammunition bunker was located.



Same as above.



Another view of the hill overlooking the Tennessee River described above.



Same as above.



Trench.



When the Fort was cut into tracts and sold this is the replacement for the old house (see photos above) originally located on top of one of Heiman's hills. The trench in the previous photo is in the back yard of this house. If you are in front of this house you have a magnificent view of the Tennessee River. The fifth, sixth and seventh photos I posted yesterday (the 1980's photos) were taken from that viewpoint before the Fort was sold. From the rock in photo number seven you can see the general area where Fort Henry once stood.



Another view of the trench.



Another view of the house.

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I hope you have enjoyed looking at these pictures and taking your "virtual tour" as much as I have enjoyed posting them for you.

If you have any information about Fort Heiman that you wouldn't mind sharing, please post in the comments or drop me a note and I will, with your permission, post the information or references you have. I will give proper credit.
As I find historical information regarding Fort Heiman I will be certain to share it with you.

Fort Heiman, Kentucky: 1980's Photographs

**In this, my second-to-last post about Fort Heiman, I will be sharing with you photographs I took when I was able to visit the fort with my family back in the mid-1980's. Please note that it has been a very long time since I've been to Fort Heiman. Anything I have marked in red as no longer being in existence was at the fort in the 80's but NOT there when I last visited on my own in 2002. If any of the signs that I have marked as being no longer in existence have been restored I am unaware of it at this time. While areas such as the ammunition bunker and empty Union cemetery surely still exist, the last time I was there extremely thick underbrush had overtaken the areas. I am hopeful that now the National Park Service owns Fort Heiman they will do whatever they can to restore these areas so they can be viewed once again.**



This is the sign signifying the outer defenses of the fort. This is no longer in existence.



This is the entrance sign leading from the main road back into the fort. This is no longer in existence.

This structure is no longer standing nor was it part of the original Civil War fort. To the best of my knowledge, this house was built by a former professor of Murray State University in the 1960's. The property it sat on is now private property as it was purchased when the fort was sold off. A new building, looking much like this one, has been constructed in its place. I would imagine the current owner assumed this building was "period" and copied its style for the structure he built. Tomorrow I will be posting a picture of the "new" house that was built to take the place of this.

The back and side of the old house. This side of the house was a large living room. The chimney belonged to a huge fireplace, suitable for cooking in. Walking out of the living room, was a kind of 'dog-trot' as my grandmother called it. (A dog trot is an open breeze way between two parts of a structure.) Across the dog trot was the kitchen of the house. The kitchen and living room were the only rooms I was ever in.

This photo, as is the one below, is the river view just before proceeding down a small path that is located in front of the old building. This view and the two photos below are now on private property and cannot be accessed.

This is a path in front of the building that leads to a very large rock. From this rock there is a magnificent view of the river. Standing or sitting on this rock, I couldn't imagine anyone not being able to dream of a little bit of the past. I vaguely remember also being able to see a path below the rock that may or may not have been some sort of road at one time.

The following three photographs are some of the trenches of the fort.

The sign reads: OLD POWDER MAGAZINE Here, Cannonballs & Black Powder
Were Stored For the FORT This is no longer in existence. I could not find the sign for this and the area where it was once located consists of very thick underbrush.

This is the Ammunition Bunker. When this photo was taken, it had rained just a few days prior which is why there is so much standing water in the bunker. While the bunker itself surely still does exist, (or I'd like to think it still does!) I could not find the sign for this and the area where it was once located consists of very thick underbrush.

The sign reads: EMPTY UNION CEMETERY After the Civil War The bodies were
taken home or reburied in Dover at the NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERY. This is no longer in existence. I could not find the sign for this and the area where it was once located consists of very thick underbrush.

This is the where the empty Union cemetery is located. This is no longer in existence. I could not find the sign for this and the area where it was once located consists of very thick underbrush.

This is one of the final trenches you can see on your way out of the fort. The area where this is located consists of extremely thick underbrush.

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I hope you have enjoyed looking at these pictures and taking your "virtual tour" as much as I have enjoyed posting them for you. Tomorrow, I will be posting photographs taken in 2002.

If you have any information about Fort Heiman that you wouldn't mind sharing, please post in the comments or drop me a note and I will, with your permission, post the information or references you have. I will give proper credit.
As I find historical information regarding Fort Heiman I will be certain to share it with you.