Fort Clinton, Central Park
Encyclopedia
Fort Clinton in New York's Central Park
was an 1814 stone-and-earthworks fortification on a rocky escarpment near the present line of 107th Street, slightly west of Fifth Avenue. According to maps of the time, Fort Clinton was the easternmost of a connected series of forts, connected to Nutter's Battery on the west by earthworks and a gatehouse over the Old Post Road at the bottom of McGowan's Pass
. Fort Clinton and Nutter's Battery were commanded from a third fort at the top of the Pass, Fort Fish, which had a sweeping view of Long Island Sound, northern Manhattan, and Westchester County. Fish was across the road from Clinton and connected to Nutter's Battery by another line of earthworks.
According to the Central Park Conservancy's website, the fort was named after New York City's mayor
, DeWitt Clinton
. During the American Revolution
, the site was used by the British and Hessians during their occupation of New York City, 1776–1783.
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
was an 1814 stone-and-earthworks fortification on a rocky escarpment near the present line of 107th Street, slightly west of Fifth Avenue. According to maps of the time, Fort Clinton was the easternmost of a connected series of forts, connected to Nutter's Battery on the west by earthworks and a gatehouse over the Old Post Road at the bottom of McGowan's Pass
McGowan's Pass
McGowan's Pass is a topographical feature of Central Park in New York City, just west of Fifth Avenue and north of 102nd Street. It has been incorporated into the park's East Drive since the early 1860s...
. Fort Clinton and Nutter's Battery were commanded from a third fort at the top of the Pass, Fort Fish, which had a sweeping view of Long Island Sound, northern Manhattan, and Westchester County. Fish was across the road from Clinton and connected to Nutter's Battery by another line of earthworks.
According to the Central Park Conservancy's website, the fort was named after New York City's mayor
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
, DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton was an early American politician and naturalist who served as United States Senator and the sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal...
. During the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, the site was used by the British and Hessians during their occupation of New York City, 1776–1783.