English: A plaque to recognize the close proximity of today's Carlisle House/Wharf and historic James Fort at the mouth of the Constitution River. It reads: "James Fort

Very close to this site was James Fort, one of Bridgetown's forts, built around 1670. In 1677 James Fort was equipped with 20 cannons. In 1699 the Government decided to build a meeting place in this area for the Council and the General Assembly, and the building was completed in 1701. In 1704 due to the dire need for prison space the building was transformed into a prison. However, it was not originally designed to be a jail and was rather insecure and it eventually fell into disrepair, which meant that the prisoners escaped regularly. In 1714, on one particular day every prisoner, except one, managed to escape.

In 1751 George Washington and his half brother Lawrence rented Bush Hill House from the Commander of James Fort, Commander Groftan, for seven weeks on Washington's only trip outside of the United States."