Where is Fort Knox?

Some are remembering Fort Knox as being in Tennessee, whereas all evidence today show it's always been in Kentucky.

Famous for it's gold reserves, as well as a military base, Fort Knox is the byword in security. There are even reports of people knowing servicemen who were placed there, and are sure they were in Tennessee.

There is a Knox County in Tennessee, as well as Knoxville, the town, both of which could be adding to the confusion, but apart from the name there is no connection.

Originally for artillery training

The original site was called Fort Duffield and was built in 1861 during the US Civil War. Many battles were fought over the fort since it was in a strategic location overlooking the junction of the Ohio and and rivers, which were important for passage during the war.

In 1918 during the first world war, it was used as a training ground for the military to test and develop artillery. It was named Fort Knox in 1932 after Henry Knox, who was the Chief of Artillery in the American War of Independence. It's always been an army base, and is also just known as "The Vault". A common misconception is that the base itself is used to house all the Government's gold and valuables, whereas it's actually in the United States Bullion Depository, located conveniently next to the base. It's also not strictly guarded by the army, in fact the United States Mint Police was created specifically for this purpose. Before the depository was built in 1936, the governments valuables were stored in New York and Philadelphia.

Few people realise there is a high school on the site - one of only 4 sited on army bases.

There are a few references to it's location being remembered differently.