Joy Homestead and Butt Hill Fort
April 24, 2023
After visiting Old Slater Mill, I headed toward Joy Homestead, a site along the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail. In June 1781, The Joy family and their ten children watched as General Rochambeau marched his thousands of troops right by their house on their way south to assist Washington in the Revolutionary War. The soldiers marched down what is now Scituate Avenue.
The other RI site on this route is Butt Hill Fort, erected by the British in 1777 and then occupied by the Americans in 1778 after the Battle of Rhode Island. The fort itself has deteriorated so that only aspects of its foundation remain, and efforts are underway by the Town of Portsmouth to preserve what is left of the structure.
Getting to this site was interesting as it is tucked behind a modern residential area and there are no signs directing you to it.
