Fort Fish

Fort Fish on right in 1816
Manhattanville forts[1]
Fort Fish[1]:974

Fort Fish was an earthworks fortification in northern Manhattan in New York City, built in 1814. Its site is now in Central Park on East Drive near 105th Street, directly across from the Central Park Conservancy's composting area, which was once a girls' school. Currently the only memorial on the Fort Fish site is a white marble bench dedicated to the memory of Andrew Haswell Green, the 19th century educator and city planner.[2]

The fort was named for Nicholas Fish, chairman of New York's Committee of Defense during the War of 1812. (He was also father of U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hamilton Fish). Only Blockhouse No. 1 (Central Park) remains of the system.

Fort Fish was the southern extremity of a complex of forts built along a portion of the Old Post Road, or Kingsbridge Road (now East Drive in Central Park), a region formerly known as McGowan's Pass. According to a 1905 local history, the Fort Fish site is "at an elevation of 89 feet above tide-water," making it the highest point in the northeast quadrant of Central Park.[3]


References

  1. 1 2 Lossing, Benson (1868). The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812. Harper & Brothers, Publishers. p. 972.
  2. ↑ Online page about the bench.
  3. ↑ Edward Hagaman Hall, McGown's Pass and Its Vicinity. 1905.

Coordinates: 40°47′49″N 73°57′36″W / 40.797°N 73.960°W / 40.797; -73.960


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