Fort Cowie, Kudat: What the Records Show
Is there a Fort Cowie in Kudat?
We have not found a reliable record of a fort called Fort Cowie in Kudat. An earlier version of this page described a fort built there in the 1880s, with walls, gun emplacements and surviving ruins. We could not verify any of those details, so we have removed them.
Fort Cowie does not appear on the Sabah Museum's list of gazetted state heritage sites (Sabah Museum, checked 7 October 2026) or on its list of museums and historical sites (Sabah Museum, checked 7 October 2026). A Daily Express history piece on Kudat becoming the first capital does not mention it either (Daily Express, checked 7 October 2026).
If you know of a reliable source for a Fort Cowie in Kudat, such as a Sabah State Archives record, a museum publication or a published history, please get in touch and we will review this page.
What is known about early Kudat
The British North Borneo Chartered Company received its Royal Charter on 1 November 1881 (Borneo Post, checked 7 October 2026). Kudat, with its good harbour at the northern tip of Borneo, was declared the capital in December 1881, in the hope that it would become a port for ships sailing between Europe and China. The capital moved to Sandakan in 1883 (Daily Express, checked 7 October 2026).
Groups of Hakka Christians were brought to Kudat from Hong Kong and China to meet the need for agricultural labour (Anglican Diocese of Sabah, checked 7 October 2026). Read more on our Kudat first capital page.
What is known about William Cowie
William Clarke Cowie was a shareholder in the British North Borneo Chartered Company before he became a director. Around 1894 he replaced Alfred Dent as the company's managing director. He championed a railway for North Borneo, and on 24 January 1896, as chairman of the company's board, he appointed Arthur J. West as chief engineer for a line from Bukau on Brunei Bay to Beaufort (Goi Lik Sia and Juviana Jima, Jurnal Borneo Akhailogia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 2021, checked 7 October 2026).
For more on his life, see our William Cowie page.
Where to learn about Kudat's history today
Muzium Tun Mustapha on Jalan Lintas, about 2 km from Kudat town, has a gallery on the culture and history of the Kudat district alongside a gallery on Tun Mustapha. The Sabah Museum lists it as open daily from 9am to 5pm, with free entry (Sabah Museum, checked 7 October 2026).