Fort Curtis

Union troops reached Helena on July 12, 1862, but work on the earthen redoubt did not begin until mid-August, and Fort Curtis was dedicated on October 30. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas says Federal troops and formerly enslaved people built it. More than 2,000 people had followed Curtis's army to Helena hoping for freedom, and the encyclopedia's entry on contraband camps names the work they did: men from the camps labored on Fort Curtis and the earthworks around the town. Its main armament was six thirty-two-pound siege guns, set to cover nearly every approach to Helena.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Elaine Massacre Memorial — 0.2 mi
  A memorial dedicated in 2019 in Helena for the Black people killed by white mobs and troops in the 1919 Elaine Massacre, the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history.
• Delta Cultural Center — 0.4 mi
  A state museum in downtown Helena where King Biscuit Time, the longest-running daily blues radio show, is broadcast live from the Visitors Center.
• Freedom Park — 1.1 mi
  An outdoor Delta Cultural Center site on the ground of a Civil War contraband camp, where thousands of people who had escaped slavery sheltered and men enlisted.
• Mississippi River State Park — 11 mi
  A state park and gateway to the St. Francis National Forest, where the river, Crowley's Ridge and the Delta meet, with a Trail of Tears site at the Mississippi and St. Francis confluence.

More markers nearby

• Russwurm Memorial — steps away
• Judge Jacob Trieber — steps away
• Seven Confederate Generals — 0.2 mi
• Fort Curtis, 1862-1867 — 0.2 mi