Facing the Sheepscot River, on Davis Island (actually, a peninsula) opposite the picturesque village of Wiscasset Maine.

In the early-1800's, Wiscasset was an important shipbuilding center and the fort was built in 1809 as its defense, but more importantly to enforce President Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act, not only to keep foreign trade out, but also to keep angry Maine traders in. During the War of 1812, Fort Edgecomb acted as coastal defense, but was mostly used as a prison for British soldiers and sailors captured by American privateers. Its presence was a deterrent later in the war, to a threatened invasion of mid-coast Maine by the British. Militarily, it has been a non-factor ever since.