It served to defend Boston Harbor from enemy attack from the sea and was built in the 1809 during what is known as the Endicott period, a time in which the coast defenses of the United States were seriously expanded and upgraded with new technology.

Because of its campus-like appearance and the fact that it was located on land, close of Boston, the fort was known as "The Country Club" by Coast Artillery soldiers pleased to be posted there.

[8] In fact, the Army had planned to build two 16-gun Abbot Quad arrays at Fort Banks, but ran out of budget before being able to complete that project.

[10] Each M1890MI mortar on an M1896 carriage (as at Fort Banks) weighed a total of 78.5 tons and was intricately geared to enable it to be turned (in azimuth) and raised or lowered (in elevation).

The photo of Kellogg Pit B at top right clearly shows another unusual feature of the mortar pits—the data booth.

This small concrete room, built into the western wall of the pit, with its tapered viewing slits, is visible just left of center in the photo.

To orient this diagram to the current (2010) surface geography, the point at which the central east-west and north-south galleries cross is approximately here: (42°23′02″N 70°58′51″W / 42.384027°N 70.980747°W / 42.384027; -70.980747).

Originally, the two central (east-west and north-south) corridors completed in 1896 were to have provided the only ammunition and powder storage for the batteries.

[19] At one time, the fort became the headquarters for the Army's 9th Coast Artillery Regiment, which garrisoned much of the Boston harbor defenses in the early part of WWII.

After the fort was declared surplus by the Army in 1947, its land was purchased by the Town of Winthrop and by private developers for municipal facilities and apartment uses.

[21] Today, the flank magazines of Battery Kellogg are crowded with debris left over from former service as a Town-sponsored "haunted house" at Halloween, and have temporary plywood walls with doors and windows added here and there.

On the western (Battery Lincoln) end, the two mortar pits have been filled about halfway up and paved over, and are now used as parking lots (see photo above, at right).

The central magazine casemate, which sticks out between the two pits, housed the Harbor Defense Command Headquarters during World War II.

The rooms inside this casemate have suffered fire damage (likely from vandals), leaving them littered with charred wood and other debris (see photo below).