New York City's Blockhouse No. 1 in Central Park-- Part 3: Completed Two Days Before Treaty of Ghent Signed

 The fort consists of a two-story bunker surrounding a small area, inside which, a wooden platform would have originally stood. The wooden platform was sunken with a revolving turret for a cannon (not quite sure what this means).

The sides of it held small gunports.  The structure was likely connected to the ground by a small staircase.

Construction on the tower was completed December 22, 1814, , two days before the Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the war.

The second phase of its history involved it being used as an ammunition and storage building.  During this time, the top two feet of stone-work was completed.  The fort/blockhouse is noticeably different in color, composition and stonework.

Later at the turn of the 20th century, the current entrance and staircase were added, as was the tall flagpole at the center of the fort.

In 1905, it was described as standing 19 feet tall at the western wall and  having a base of 34 feet square.

Blockhouse No. 1 stands in North Woods at the northwest corner of Central Park, at a location that is still rugged, high and difficult to reach.  It is located south of North Crive and north of Huddlestone Arch.  It overlooks Harlem Meer (lake) and the Lasker Rink to the east.

Interesting Site to Visit.  --Brock-Perry

New York City's Blockhouse in Central Park-- Part 2: Originally Built By the British in the American Revolution

The Blockhouse was likely built on the foundation of a structure dating back to a much earlier date.  In 1776, during the American Revolution, British and Hessian troops  sealed off lower Manhattan from colonial armies by controlling the pass and defending it through a series of fortifications.

From trial excavations performed in 1995, it has been determined that the foundation of Blockhouse No. 1 date back to this time of British occupation of New York.

The current fort was constructed in three phases.

In the first phase, under the direction of General Joseph Gardner Swift, the fort was hastily constructed by New Yorkers during the War of 1812 in anticipation of a British invasion.  It was assembled by volunteers who brought the building materials with them, hence the red sandstone blocks included with the Manhattan schist.

--Brock-Perry

New York City's Blockhouse in Central Park-- Part 1: A Picturesque Ruin

Continued from August 30.

From Wikipedia.

The Blockhouse is the second oldest structure in New York City's Central Park after Cleopatra's Needle.  It is a small fort in the northern part of the fort and is located on a overlook of the Manhattan schist. (Manhattan schist is the bedrock that enables the tall buildings to stand. I didn't know that and had to look kit up.)  It has a clear view of the flat surrounding areas north of Central Park.

Finished in 1814, the fort was part of a series of fortifications in northern Manhattan, which originally included three fortifications in what was then Harlem Heights, now known as Morningside Heights.  The fortifications were built in fear of a British attack during the War of 1812 which never came.

The Blockhouse is the last surviving fortification from those defenses.

Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, designers of Central Park, decided Blockhouse No. 1 was a picturesque ruin, romantically overgrown with  vines and Alpine shrubbery.

--Brock-Perry

Seven Things You Didn't Know About New York's Central Park-- Part 5: Seneca Village

7.  One of the first African American communities in the city was razed in order  to create Central Park.

About three decades before the creation of the park, the area  was home to Seneca Village, a small community founded by free black property owners, one of the first ones in New York City.

It had three churches and a school and stretched between West 83rd and 89th streets.  By the 1840s, German and Irish immigrants moved to the area, making it one of the few integrated areas of the time.

In 1853, the city took possession of the area through eminent domain and destroyed Seneca Village to make way for Central Park.  The history of the village was largely ignored until 2011, when historians and archaeologists from the Institute for the Exploration of Seneca Village excavated six areas within the former village.

They found thousands of artifacts, including household items that revealed signs of middle-class life.  Last year, the central Park Conservancy  launched an outdoor exhibit to teach visitors about Seneca Village.

--Brock-Perry

Seven Things You Didn't Know About New York's Central Park-- Part 4: The Whisper Bench and the Surveyor Bolt

5.  The park is home to the "Whisper Bench" in Shakespeare Garden.  It is similar to the whispering walls of Grand Central.  It is named in honor of Charles B. Stover, a park advocate and co-founder  of the University Settlement.  It is a curved  granite bench that can be found in the four-acre Shakespeare Garden.

If you sit at one end and whisper , the sound travels to the other side, creating a way to share secrets, even in this age of social distancing.

6.  There is a surveyor bolt put in place by the mastermind of the Manhattan Grid that remains unmarked. 

John Randel Jr., the chief surveyor who designed the Manhattan street grid more than 200 years ago, traversed the city  for about a decade to mark nearly 1,000 future intersections.  Randel and his team were not exactly loved by New Yorkers at the time and some destroyed his markers, set their dogs after him and even threw vegetables at him.

Only one of his many bolts has been found at a location originally marked as Sixth Avenue and 65th Street but is now a part of Central Park.  Embedded in a rock on the southern end of the park, the bolt's location remains unmarked in order to preserve it, as well as create a treasure hunt for history and city planning buffs.

--Brock-Perry

Seven Things You Didn't Know About New York City's Central Park-- Part 3: The War of 1812 Blockhouse

4.  Another relic of the War of 1812, which never reached New York City or Manhattan, the Blockhouse is the second-oldest structure in the park, after Cleopatra's Needle (1450 BC).  The Blockhouse was built in 1814 to protect against a British attack (something that never came in the war or afterwards in case you count the Beatles).

At its strongest, it n consisted of a two-story bunker and could hold up to 2,000 militiamen.

When this northern part of area was added to the park's design in 1863, Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux decided  to leave the Blockhouse as a charming piece of history.

--Brock-Perry

Seven Things You Didn't Know About New York's Central Park-- Part 2: Fort Clinton and the Cannon

3.  The cannon at the War of 1812's Fort Clinton actually came from an American Revolution British ship.

Fort Clinton has views of Harlem Meer and the city's east side and served as a strategic overlook in the War of 1812.  It was named after the city's mayor at the time, DeWitt Clinton.  The fortification and its original remains were retained during the construction of Central Park.

A historic cannon and mortar can be found at the top that actually predate the War of 1812.  They came from the HMS Hussar, a British ship from the American Revolution that sank in the East River in 1778, and were later donated anonymously to the park in 1865.

This Revolutionary War cannon was placed in various sites around the park until placed at Fort Clinton in 1905.  When the staff of the Conservancy  cleaned the cannon in 2013, they found it was still loaded with cannonball and powder, all of which have since been removed.

I have already written about this.  Click on the Fort Clinton label below.

No Big Bangs Here.  --Brock-Perry

Seven Things You Didn't Know About New York's Central Park-- Part 1: Lampposts and Waterfalls

From the April 20, 2020, 6sqft. by Devin Gannon.

"Although it's one of the most-visited parks in the world,   Central Park is chock-full of  hidden spots and historic treasures that even native-New Yorkers don't know about.  Designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux,the 840-acre park has served as an oasis for city dwellers for over 150 years.

Here are some lesser-known spots in the park.

1.  The park's 1,600 lampposts, designed by Beaux Arts architect Henry Bacon in 1907 has a set of numbers at the bottom to help you find your way.  (Bacon is best-known for designing the Lincoln Memorial.)

2.  There are at least five waterfalls in the park.  The water in them is the same as you would drink from your tap.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Fish in Central Park

From Wikipedia.

Earthwork fortification in northern Manhattan built in 1814.  Now in Central Park on East Drive near 105th Street.  Currently, there is only a white marble bench on the site dedicated to the memory of Andrew Haswell Green, 18th century educator and city planner.

The fort was named for Nicholas Fish, chairman of New York City's Committee of defense during the War of 1812.  He is also the father of U.S. senator and secretary of State Hamilton Fish.  Fort Fish is on the southern end of a complex of defenses built along a portion of Old Post Road (Kingsbridge Road) which is now Central Park's East Drive.  The region was formerly known as McGowan's Pass.

At an elevation of 89 feet above tide water, it is the highest point on the northeast quadrant of Central Park.

--Brock-Perry

Nutter's Battery in Central Park

Along with Fort Clinton, Fort Fish and McGowan's Pass, another element of the New York City defenses set up in what is today Central Park was Nutter's Battery.

It was hurriedly constructed in 1814 of earth and wood near Harlem Meer.  A 1905 history says that it was on the line of Sixth Avenue (Lenox Avenue) between 109th and 110th streets.  It was named after Valentine Nutter who owned the surrounding land.

Maps and illustrations show it to be a redoubt connected to Fort Fish by earthworks along Old Post Road.  At the line of 107th Street and Sixth Avenue the earthworks led to a gatehouse at McGowan's Pass.  From this, the earthworks ran up the rocky hill to Fort Clinton.

Once Central Park was established, Nutter's Battery was inaccessible to the public.  In 1945 paths were built to the site and a low stone wall built to mark its location.

--Brock-Perry

HMS Hussar-- Part 3: Blown "Straight Back to Hell"

In 1876, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined to take care of the dangerous Hell's Gate passage by blowing "the worst features of Hell's Gate straight back to hell with 25 tons of dynamite."  The Hussar's remains, if there are any, are believed to be beneath the landfill of the Bronx.

On January 16, 2013, preservationists with the Central Park Conservancy discovered gunpowder, wadding and a cannonball in one of the two recovered cannons.  The bomb disposal unit removed about 1.8 pounds of active black powder and disposed of it.

"We silenced British cannon fire in 1776 and we don't want to hear it again in Central Park," according to a New York Police Department statement.

--Brock-Perry

Central Park's Fort Clinton's Cannons-- Part 3: Not From War of 1812, But Fort Is

Originally thought to have been part of the city's defenses in the War of 1812, the cannons had actually been on the bottom of the East River in the HMS Hussar for 80 years before they were anonymously donated to Central Park in 1865.  They were originally displayed at the Arsenal, now the Parks Department headquarters on Fifth Avenue and later they were moved to the museum at Mount Saint Vincent convent at 105th Street.  The museum burned in 1881, but the cannons survived..  Their whereabouts for the next twenty years are unknown.

They re-emerged in 1905 when the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society persuaded the Parks department to install them, at the site of Fort Clinton.  They were displayed on a granite base (with a plaque wrongly saying they were War of 1812 cannons) until the 1960s and 1970s.

This is when New York City's budgetary problems caused them to be neglected and they became targets of vandalism.  The Central Park Conservancy retrieved them in 1996.  Last January, during restoration, it was discovered that the mortar/carronade had a cannonball with live powder in it.  The police bomb squad was summoned to disarm it.

Fort Clinton is within sight of where the HMS Hussar sank.

--Brock-Perry

Central Park's Fort Clinton's Cannons-- Part 1: Bringing the Guns Back

From the March 23, 2014, New York Times "Big Guns Will Return to Watch Over Park" by Sam Roberts.

I did some research on the two cannons which were reinstalled there.

A photo accompanied the article show the preservation of the two cannons.  One is classified as a cannon, the other one as either a carronade or mortar.

For most of the 20th century, two 18th century cannons were located at the Fort Cklinton site ij New York's Central Park.  They had been recovered from a British frigate that had mysteriously sunk off Hell's Gate in the East River.  The ship had reportedly also been carrying gold.

These cannons survived the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and a fire at the nearby Conservatory Gardens.  New York's financial crisis  in the 1970s resulted in the cannons becoming victims of vandalism and neglect.

--Brock-Perry

Central Park's Fort Clinton-- Part 3:

Fort Clinton was named for the city's mayor, DeWitt Clinton.  The site had previously been used by British Hessian troops during the occupation of New York City 1776-1783.

From the Central Park web site.

In the 1860s, designers of Central Park recognized the scenic and historic value of Fort Clinton and returned the location to its original topography and the remains of the fort.  By 1900, the remains had eroded and the site was turned into a scenic overlook with rustic fencing, benches and flag pole.

The Central Park Conservancy rebuilt Fort Clinton in 2014 for the War of 1812 bicentennial.  Two cannons were also reinstalled.

--Brock-Perry

Central Park's Fort Clinton-- Part 2: A Tale of Two Clintons, a Castle and a Fort

Last night, I was talking with my friend Kevin, who grew up in Brooklyn, at the American Legion and told him I was writing about McGowan's Pass, Fort Fish, Nutter's Battery and Fort Clinton.  He said he knew all of these places on Manhattan.  But he referred to Fort Clinton as the "Castle."

I didn't know about the Fort Clinton in Central Park being anything like a castle since it was built very quickly.

When I did the search for Fort Clinton this morning, I found out why it was the castle.

It turns out that Manhattan has two fortresses known as Clinton.  The one Kevin was referring to is now called Castle Clinton and is at the south end of the island.  Both of them were named for mayor DeWitt Clinton, though.

So, this is so you won't get confused about the two Fort Clintons.

--Brock-Perry

Central Park's Fort Clinton-- Part 1: Part of City Defenses

From Wikipedia.

Yesterday, I posted about a line of fortifications in New York City's Central Park that were hurriedly built in 1814 for use in stopping a possible British attack that was expected.  This included McGowan's Pass, Fort Fish, Nutter's Battery and Fort Clinton, a line connected with earthworks.

Fort Clinton was in present-day Central Park and was an 1814 stone and earthwork fortification on a rocky escarpment near the present line of 107th Street and slightly west of Fifth Avenue.

It was the easternmost of a connected series of forts, connecting Nutter's Battery on the west by a series of earthworks and a gatehouse over Old Post Road (evidently Kingsbridge Road) at the bottom of McGowan's Pass.

Fort Clinton and Nutter's Battery were in turn commanded by Fort Fish which had a sweeping view of Long Island Sound, northern Manhattan and Westchester County.

--Brock-Perry

Remnant of War of 1812 Fortification Found In New York's Central Park-- Part 2

Other fortifications rebuilt included Fort Clinton, Nutter's Battery and Fort Fish.  But, fortunately, the British never came.  All the above mention fortifications are long gone except for those at McGowan's Pass, which still remain.

In 1990, the Conservancy worked with archaeologists to identify breastworks that have eroded over time at the pass.

On the north side of the pass, citizens drilled a line of holes into rock outcroppings.  Iron rods inserted in them could have helped build a wall linking the three small forts listed in the first paragraph.  These forts guarded the pass and surrounding countryside.

You can still see the holes.  They were recently found during reconstruction of the $2 million Fort Landscape Project in the north end of the park.Foundations of the southeast side of the gate house that had been constructed, almost like a bridge across McGowan's Pass over Kingsbridghe Road.  Evidence of the stone-splitting process known as plug-and-feather was used in the fort built atop rock they were composed of.

The northwest side of the gatehouse and part of the original Kingsbridge Road was also found.

And, You Didn't Think Much Happened in New York City During the War.  --Brock-Perry

Remnant of War of 1812 Fortification Found in New York's Central Park-- Part 1

From the September 24, 2014, New York Times "Excavated in Central Park: Traces of Anti-Redcoat Fortification Never Needed."

In August 1814, America was in chaos.  The British had taken and sacked the capital and held Lake Champlain.  It was becoming obvious that there was a real possibility of an attack on New York.

It was expected that Kingsbridge Road, actually a very rudimentary byway, which ran from the mainland down Manhattan Is;and to New York City, was the most likely avenue of British invasion.

Civilians rapidly fashioned impromptu fortifications, including one at McGowan's Pass in Harlem.  (east side of 107th Street, just south of Harlem Meer.  These were originally built during the Revolutionary War, but now, 200 volunteers spent six weeks rebuilding the city's network of forts.  They fortified McGowan's Pass with a barrier wall and a blockhouse mounting cannons.

--Brock-Perry