Fort Macon is a five-sided brick and stone fort with 26 vault­ed rooms, which was used dur­ing the 18th and 19th cen­turies to pro­tect the area from naval attacks by pirates or ene­my war­ships. Today the site fea­tures exhibits about the fort’s his­to­ry, restored quar­ters, and occa­sion­al re-enac­t­­ments. Guid­ed tours are avail­able. Vis­i­tors can also fish, hike, swim and pic­nic in the park grounds sur­round­ing the fort.