Fort Fish was an earthworks fortification within what is now

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The fort was located on East Drive near 105th Street, directly across from the

Central Park Conservancy The Central Park Conservancy is a private, nonprofit park conservancy that manages Central Park under a contract with the City of New York and NYC Parks. The conservancy employs most maintenance and operations staff in the park. It effectivel ...

's composting area, which was once a

girls' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

. Currently the only memorial on the Fort Fish site is a white marble bench dedicated to the memory of

Andrew Haswell Green Andrew Haswell Green (October 6, 1820 – November 13, 1903) was a lawyer, New York City planner, and civic leader. He is considered "the Father of Greater New York," and is responsible for Central Park, the New York Public Library, the Bronx ...

, the 19th century educator and city planner. The fort was named for

Nicholas Fish Nicholas Fish (August 28, 1758 – June 20, 1833) was an American Revolutionary War soldier. He was the first Adjutant General of New York. Early life Fish was born on August 28, 1758 into a wealthy New York City family. He was the son of Jon ...

, chairman of New York's Committee of Defense during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. (He was also father of U.S. Senator and Secretary of State

Hamilton Fish Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808September 7, 1893) was an American politician who served as the 16th Governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a United States Senator from New York from 1851 to 1857 and the 26th United States Secretary of State fro ...

). Only

Blockhouse No. 1 Blockhouse No. 1, colloquially known as The Blockhouse, is a small fort in the North Woods section of Central Park, Manhattan, New York City. Finished in 1814, the Blockhouse is the second-oldest structure in the park, after Cleopatra's Needle, ...

remains of the system of defense. 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 McGowan's Pass (sometimes spelled "McGown's") 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. A steep ...

. 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.Edward Hagaman Hall, McGown's Pass and Its Vicinity. 1905.

References

Forts in Manhattan 1814 establishments in New York (state) History of Manhattan Central Park {{Manhattan-struct-stub

See also

References