Fort Macon was constructed between 1826 and 1834. It was used in the War Between the States from 1861 to 1865, the Spanish American War in 1898, and World War II from 1941 to 1945. It also served as a military prison from 1862 to 1877. North Carolina acquired Fort Macon in 1924 as the second property purchased to establish a state parks system, and Fort Macon State Park formally opened on May 1, 1936, as North Carolina's first functioning state park.