Press Release

What: New wood flooring to be installed in Enlisted Men’s Quarters.

Where: Fort Knox State Historic Site, Prospect.

The well-known Civil War re-enactors group, 20th Maine Co. B, will provide labor on Saturday for the installation of a new wood floor in the Enlisted Men’s Quarters at Fort Knox, Maine’s most popular historic site, according to Tom Desjardin, park historian for the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL), Maine Department of Conservation.

Lumber and materials, costing about $1,500, will be provided for the project by BPL, Desjardin said. The room, which is located next to the fort’s bakery, now has a gravel floor, he said.

“This and the powder magazine repair project that the Friends of Fort Knox is financing this summer means that every piece of the fort will have a section completed,” the park historian said.

20th Maine Co. B is holding its “School of the Soldier” training this weekend at the fort, and the floor project will be part of the weekend activities.

“By finishing this room and furnishing it, visitors will see how enlisted men lived in coastal forts in the mid 1800s,” Desjardin said. The park historian will oversee the project this weekend.

Fort Knox is a National Historic Landmark because of its style of architecture, Desjardin said. The park historian noted that the number of visitors to the park so far is up by 7.5 percent for the first full week of its opening earlier this month. He said he expected it to be a good season for visitation, especially now that the neighboring Penobscot Narrows Observatory has opened.

For more information about the floor project, contact Tom Desjardin, BPL park historian, at (207) 287-4975 or by email Tom.desjardin@maine.gov

For more information on Maine state parks and historic sites, go to: http://www.parksandlands.com

For more information about the Friends of Fort Knox, go to: http://fortknox.maineguide.com/