[1] The site was planned to be named Fort Henry Cabot Lodge for the prominent senator on whose land part of the facility was built, but this was never acted upon.

The East Point Batteries, located in Nahant, Massachusetts, were part of the Harbor Defenses of Boston during World War II.

In addition, to the north were fire control towers at 291 Ocean Avenue in Marblehead and Smiths Point in Manchester.

Also, the northern series of Navy-operated magnetic loop cables, emplaced to detect enemy vessels (particularly U-boats) approaching Boston Harbor, terminated on the shore just southeast of the two 155 mm gun positions.

[4][5] All of these facilities were located in the area called East Point, at the extreme southeast end of the Nahant tombolo, as shown in the map at right.

Battery Murphy was one of a series of 16-inch gun emplacements that were installed near U.S. harbors before and during World War II.

[8] From the extreme southeast end of East Point, these guns, with their 12-mile maximum range, could command the entire ocean front of Boston Harbor and could reach all the way south to Hingham, Massachusetts.