The United States has two outposts called Fort Knox: one in Maine and the other in Kentucky. While both existed as Army posts, Maine's Fort Knox is an inactive, historic fortification, while Kentucky’s Fort Knox actively provides a base for various U.S. Army functions and serves as a storehouse of gold reserves for the U.S. Treasury. Your tour of Fort Knox in Maine is wide open, while Fort Knox in Kentucky restricts public access to just a few places.
Fort Knox, Maine
- This fort was established in 1844 because, treaties aside, America still harbored suspicions of the British. After the Red Coats occupied the settlement of Bangor during both the American Revolution and the War of 1812, the Penobscot River valley’s forest resources and farmlands needed protection against a future naval invasion that never happened. You can see the fort with its cannon batteries, preserved generally as it was in the mid-19th century as one of America’s finest examples of military craftsmanship using granite. The fort is open for tours from May 1 until October 31, with the grounds open all year. Across the Penobscot River from Bucksport, Fort Knox is about 20 miles south of Bangor.
Fort Knox, Kentucky
- Mention Fort Knox, and images of James Bond movie character Goldfinger’s dream of countless stacks of bouillon bars might come to mind. But that’s only one part of this vast 170-square-mile military post about 35 miles south of Louisville. U.S. citizens must present photo identification at one of the secured gates, stating the intent of entry, such as a museum visit or to play a round of golf. Fort Knox is a certified Kentucky city, with about 90,000 active military, civilians, military dependents and retirees on the post. Similar to a huge corporation, the Army tracks and assigns its personnel from the Army Human Resource Center of Excellence housed in six connected buildings totaling 880,000 square feet. This is the garrison’s largest command, with no public tours. Areas you can tour include The Patton Museum and the open-to-the-public PGA-certified Lindsey Golf Course. The 18-hole course is next to the U.S. Department of Treasury's Kentucky Bullion Depository, so you’ll want to be careful that your hooks and slices don’t become a federal issue.
Treasury Bullion Depository
- It’s not a secret. You can see the nation’s bullion depository building from U.S. Highway 31W, or from Boullion Road on the way to Fort Knox’s Chaffee Gate. However, there are no public tours and you’d have to have top connections to even think about seeing all those gold bars, totaling about 147 million ounces. Visits are allowed only by presidential order, and only two presidents, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, have ever seen the depository, which makes your odds quite slim. About 800 feet away is as close as you can get driving past the storehouse of concrete and steel -- any closer would draw the attention of the U.S. Mint Police, which guards the depository with its vault door that weighs more than 30 tons.
Patton Museum and Armor Unit Memorial Park
- The General George Patton Museum and Center of Leadership traces the military commander’s career through exhibits of famous battles and displays of some of his personal items, including clothing and vehicles. It is located in Keyes Park, near the main entrance to Fort Knox. Next to the Patton museum, the Armor Unit Memorial Park has a number of monuments and tributes that commemorate armor units and personnel that served when the U.S. was at war.
