Fort Jay
Encyclopedia
Fort Jay is a harbor fortification and the name of the former Army post located on Governors Island
in New York Harbor
. Fort Jay is the oldest defensive structure on the island, built to defend Upper New York Bay
, but has served other purposes. Together with Castle Williams
it is managed by the National Park Service as Governors Island National Monument
.
on this site starting in April 1776, and eight cannons were mounted there for the defence of New York Harbor. Additional artillery were added and on 12 July 1776 engaged HMS Phoenix and HMS Rose
. The American cannons inflicted enough damage to make the British commanders cautious of entering the East River
, which later contributed to the success of General George Washington
's August 29–30 retreat from Brooklyn into Manhattan after the defeat in the Battle of Brooklyn. The Americans abandoned the earthworks that September with the eventual British occupation of New York City. The British Army improved the existing earthworks and used the island as a British Navy hospital until they departed, 25 November 1783
. At that time Governors Island was conveyed to the State of New York
. By 1797 Congress appropriated $30,117 for continued construction. Eventually, to allow for continued federal funding and upkeep of the works, the state conveyed Governors Island
and the works at Fort Jay to the Federal government in February 1800 for one dollar.
The earthworks were replaced by granite and brick walls and the footprint of the fort enlarged to designs by Major Jonathan Williams
, Chief engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
and supervisor of fortifications in New York Harbor.
Williams replaced the earthworks with sandstone and granite walls and an arrow-shaped ravelin
all surrounded by a dry moat. The moat is in turn surrounded by a sloped grassy area or glacis
, that was once was cleared of trees, providing a clear field of fire at any advancing enemy forces. The slope was also designed to retard or stop cannon shot from naval ships. The overall result is still evident in the fort's star-shaped design visible from the air and its position on the highest point on the island. Construction of the walls and gate of the existing fort were completed in 1808. Later small wood and brick barracks buildings were constructed in the enclosed square space.
The fortification was named Fort Jay for John Jay
, a member of the Federalist Party, New York governor, Supreme Court Justice, Secretary of State and one of the "founding fathers" of the United States. Jay, as George Washington's Secretary of State, negotiated an unpopular, but essential treaty, the Jay Treaty
, addressing unresolved issues with Great Britain in the years after the Revolutionary War. With the change in presidential administrations and the recent transfer to the federal government, the fort was renamed Fort Columbus
for Christopher Columbus
, a name it retained until 1904.
By the 1830s, four ranges of brick barracks replaced wooden barracks around the quadrangle inside the walls of the fort. The barracks were built as the fortification's ability to protect New York was diminished by the construction of Fort Hamilton
and Fort Wadsworth
at The Narrows
of New York Harbor. The Greek Revival style barracks, unified by two-storey Tuscan porticos
first served as officers' and enlisted men's housing for the permanent garrison.
During the American Civil War, the armorment of the fort was upgraded with nearly 50 10" and 15" Rodman cannons. Three 10" and one 15" Rodman cannons
were retained at the fort's east entrance gate and north overlook to Lower Manhattan when the remainder were scrapped in October 1942 for the war effort during World War II.
In the early years of the Civil War, the north barracks were used to hold Confederate officers taken as prisoners of war pending transfer to other Union prisons such as Camp Johnson in Ohio, Fort Delaware
or Fort Warren
in Boston Harbor.
. Root sought to enhance the island army post to better serve the army's needs and fend off efforts by the City of New York to close the post and reclaim the island as a city park. Root instigated the expansion of the island from its original 60 acres to 170 acres with landfill from the newly constructed New York City subways. He also commissioned the New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White to develop a master plan for the island which would demolish all the existing buildings on the island except for the three original fortifications on the island and a newly constructed chapel. The retention of the fortifications indicated Root's interest in retaining the historical structures as army decision makers he supervised were trying to accomplish their demolition. In one of his departing acts as Secretary of War in February 1904, he restored the original name of Fort Jay to the fortification and renamed the army post that evolved around it also as Fort Jay.
The glacis south of the fort continued to be used as a parade ground and in the 1920s also served as a polo field. By the 1930s, the Army used the Works Progress Administration
to "shoe horn" a nine-hole golf course (now demolished) into the glacis surrounding the fort; it remained in service until 1996 as the only golf course in Manhattan.
Another 1930s WPA project was the complete renovation of the barracks in Fort Jay to family housing. Each company barracks was transformed into four townhouse style apartments that served the needs of junior officer family housing. As a further concession to the automobile, eight two car garages were constructed inside the fort behind the barracks to serve the fort's residents.
In 2001, Fort Jay and Castle Williams were proclaimed as part of the Governors Island National Monument
, administered by the National Park Service
. Fort Jay was recognized as being one of the finest remaining examples of the Second System of American military fortifications. Since 2003, both fortifications have been open to the public on a summer seasonal basis as they undergo stabilization.
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
in New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
. Fort Jay is the oldest defensive structure on the island, built to defend Upper New York Bay
Upper New York Bay
Upper New York Bay, or Upper Bay, is the traditional heart of the Port of New York and New Jersey, and often called New York Harbor. It is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne.It...
, but has served other purposes. Together with Castle Williams
Castle Williams
Notes...
it is managed by the National Park Service as Governors Island National Monument
Governors Island National Monument
Governors Island National Monument is located in New York, New York on of Governors Island, a island located few hundred meters off the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East Rivers in New York Harbor....
.
American Revolution
Fort Jay is situated on the location of earthworks originally built to defend New York City during the American Revolution. The first earthen fortification was constructed by General Israel PutnamIsrael Putnam
Israel Putnam was an American army general and Freemason who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War...
on this site starting in April 1776, and eight cannons were mounted there for the defence of New York Harbor. Additional artillery were added and on 12 July 1776 engaged HMS Phoenix and HMS Rose
HMS Rose (1757)
HMS Rose was a 20-gun sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy, built in Hull, England in 1757. Her activities in suppressing smuggling in the colony of Rhode Island provoked the formation of what became the Continental Navy, precursor of the modern United States Navy. In the Seven Years' War, Rose...
. The American cannons inflicted enough damage to make the British commanders cautious of entering the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
, which later contributed to the success of General George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's August 29–30 retreat from Brooklyn into Manhattan after the defeat in the Battle of Brooklyn. The Americans abandoned the earthworks that September with the eventual British occupation of New York City. The British Army improved the existing earthworks and used the island as a British Navy hospital until they departed, 25 November 1783
Evacuation Day (New York)
Following the American Revolution, Evacuation Day on November 25 marks the day in 1783 when the last vestige of British authority in the United States — its troops in New York — departed from Manhattan...
. At that time Governors Island was conveyed to the State of New York
Federal period
In the years following the end of British occupation of New York in 1783, the works fell to ruin. A decade later in 1794, the State of New York began to finance improvements to improve the earthworks, then in ruin. They were reconstructed as a square fort with four corner bastions and named after the Federalist New York governor, John JayJohn Jay
John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
. By 1797 Congress appropriated $30,117 for continued construction. Eventually, to allow for continued federal funding and upkeep of the works, the state conveyed Governors Island
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
and the works at Fort Jay to the Federal government in February 1800 for one dollar.
The earthworks were replaced by granite and brick walls and the footprint of the fort enlarged to designs by Major Jonathan Williams
Jonathan Williams (engineer)
Jonathan Williams , American businessman, military figure, politician and writer.Williams was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin...
, Chief engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
and supervisor of fortifications in New York Harbor.
Williams replaced the earthworks with sandstone and granite walls and an arrow-shaped ravelin
Ravelin
A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress...
all surrounded by a dry moat. The moat is in turn surrounded by a sloped grassy area or glacis
Glacis
A glacis in military engineering is an artificial slope of earth used in late European fortresses so constructed as to keep any potential assailant under the fire of the defenders until the last possible moment...
, that was once was cleared of trees, providing a clear field of fire at any advancing enemy forces. The slope was also designed to retard or stop cannon shot from naval ships. The overall result is still evident in the fort's star-shaped design visible from the air and its position on the highest point on the island. Construction of the walls and gate of the existing fort were completed in 1808. Later small wood and brick barracks buildings were constructed in the enclosed square space.
The fortification was named Fort Jay for John Jay
John Jay
John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
, a member of the Federalist Party, New York governor, Supreme Court Justice, Secretary of State and one of the "founding fathers" of the United States. Jay, as George Washington's Secretary of State, negotiated an unpopular, but essential treaty, the Jay Treaty
Jay Treaty
Jay's Treaty, , also known as Jay's Treaty, The British Treaty, and the Treaty of London of 1794, was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain that is credited with averting war,, resolving issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the American Revolution,, and...
, addressing unresolved issues with Great Britain in the years after the Revolutionary War. With the change in presidential administrations and the recent transfer to the federal government, the fort was renamed Fort Columbus
Fort Columbus
Fort Columbus was a fortification and army post in Governors Island, New York Harbor, New York City, New York, from 1806 to 1904.-Fort Jay:Fort Columbus was the name of a fortification and later the army post that developed around it...
for Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
, a name it retained until 1904.
19th century and the Civil War
- for more information about the fort's history during the 19th century, see Fort ColumbusFort ColumbusFort Columbus was a fortification and army post in Governors Island, New York Harbor, New York City, New York, from 1806 to 1904.-Fort Jay:Fort Columbus was the name of a fortification and later the army post that developed around it...
By the 1830s, four ranges of brick barracks replaced wooden barracks around the quadrangle inside the walls of the fort. The barracks were built as the fortification's ability to protect New York was diminished by the construction of Fort Hamilton
Fort Hamilton
Historic Fort Hamilton is located in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Bensonhurst, and is one of several posts that are part of the region which is headquartered by the Military District of Washington...
and Fort Wadsworth
Fort Wadsworth
Fort Wadsworth is a former United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper and Lower halves, a natural point for defense of the Upper Bay and Manhattan beyond. Prior to closing in 1994 it claimed to be the longest...
at The Narrows
The Narrows
The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson River empties into the Atlantic Ocean...
of New York Harbor. The Greek Revival style barracks, unified by two-storey Tuscan porticos
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
first served as officers' and enlisted men's housing for the permanent garrison.
During the American Civil War, the armorment of the fort was upgraded with nearly 50 10" and 15" Rodman cannons. Three 10" and one 15" Rodman cannons
Rodman gun
Rodman gun refers to a series of American Civil War-era columbiads designed by Union artilleryman Thomas Jackson Rodman . The guns were designed to fire both shot and shell. These heavy guns were intended to be mounted in seacoast fortifications. They were built in 8-inch, 10-inch, 13-inch,...
were retained at the fort's east entrance gate and north overlook to Lower Manhattan when the remainder were scrapped in October 1942 for the war effort during World War II.
In the early years of the Civil War, the north barracks were used to hold Confederate officers taken as prisoners of war pending transfer to other Union prisons such as Camp Johnson in Ohio, Fort Delaware
Fort Delaware
Fort Delaware is a harbor defense facility, designed by Chief Engineer Joseph Gilbert Totten, and located on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. During the American Civil War, the Union used Fort Delaware as a prison for Confederate prisoners of war, political prisoners, federal convicts, and...
or Fort Warren
Fort Warren (Massachusetts)
Fort Warren is a historic fort on the Georges Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor. The fort is pentagonal, made with stone and granite, and was constructed from 1833–1861, completed shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War...
in Boston Harbor.
20th century
Fort Jay and Governors Island drew the attention of a former New York City lawyer and President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of War, Elihu RootElihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
. Root sought to enhance the island army post to better serve the army's needs and fend off efforts by the City of New York to close the post and reclaim the island as a city park. Root instigated the expansion of the island from its original 60 acres to 170 acres with landfill from the newly constructed New York City subways. He also commissioned the New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White to develop a master plan for the island which would demolish all the existing buildings on the island except for the three original fortifications on the island and a newly constructed chapel. The retention of the fortifications indicated Root's interest in retaining the historical structures as army decision makers he supervised were trying to accomplish their demolition. In one of his departing acts as Secretary of War in February 1904, he restored the original name of Fort Jay to the fortification and renamed the army post that evolved around it also as Fort Jay.
The glacis south of the fort continued to be used as a parade ground and in the 1920s also served as a polo field. By the 1930s, the Army used the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
to "shoe horn" a nine-hole golf course (now demolished) into the glacis surrounding the fort; it remained in service until 1996 as the only golf course in Manhattan.
Another 1930s WPA project was the complete renovation of the barracks in Fort Jay to family housing. Each company barracks was transformed into four townhouse style apartments that served the needs of junior officer family housing. As a further concession to the automobile, eight two car garages were constructed inside the fort behind the barracks to serve the fort's residents.
End of a military career
In 1964 the U.S. Army announced the closing of its Fort Jay army post as United States First Army headquarters and its relocation at that time to Fort Meade, Maryland. In 1966 the United States Coast Guard assumed control of Governors Island and continued to use Fort Jay as junior officer and civilian staff housing until it closed its Governors Island base in 1996.In 2001, Fort Jay and Castle Williams were proclaimed as part of the Governors Island National Monument
Governors Island National Monument
Governors Island National Monument is located in New York, New York on of Governors Island, a island located few hundred meters off the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East Rivers in New York Harbor....
, administered by the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
. Fort Jay was recognized as being one of the finest remaining examples of the Second System of American military fortifications. Since 2003, both fortifications have been open to the public on a summer seasonal basis as they undergo stabilization.