In 1776, American patriots armed Fort Liberty with 25 guns and built various breastworks to defend the City of Newport.

The French army under Count de Rochambeau occupied Newport in 1780 and used the fort as part of their defenses until their departure in 1781.

The first United States Army officer to command the fort was Captain William Littlefield, a native of Newport who had served during the American Revolution.

Captain Littlefield assumed his duties in either June or July 1794 which marked the beginning of a presence of the United States Armed Forces in Newport which continues to this day.

The Secretary of War's report on fortifications for December 1811 describes Fort Wolcott as "a small enclosed work, with open batteries, extending from two opposite flanks, of stone, earth, sods, &c. mounting thirty-eight heavy guns...

Fort Wolcott, built of stone cemented with lime, featured a brick-and-stone magazine, sally-port, ditch, furnace, and bomb-proof brick barracks.

Goat Island hosted the training ship squadron of United States Naval Academy during the American Civil War.

The tradition of having a Coast Guard cutter stationed at Goat Island resumed when the Marine Protector-class patrol boat USCGC Tiger Shark was commissioned on 16 July 2005.

[1] Tiger Shark was based at Goat Island until about 2013 when its berth was moved to Pier 2 at the Naval Station Newport.

Over the next several decades, Globe constructed a hotel and condominiums and converted the only former navy building remaining on the island into a marina.