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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWE-3HISTORIC AND NATURAL DISTRICTS INVENTORY FORM DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND RECREATION ALBANY, NEW YORK (518) 4744)479 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY UNIQUE SITE NO. QUAD SERIES NEG. NO. YOUR NAME: Town of $outhold/SPLIA DATE: March 1988 YOUR ADDRESS: Town Hall, Main Rd. TELEPHONE:. 516 765 1892 Southold LI NY 11971 ORGANIZATION (if any): Southold. Town Community Development Office 1. NAME OF DISTRICT: Fort H.G. Wright, Fishers Island 2. COUNTY: Suffolk TOWN/CITY: Southold VILLAGE: Fishers Island 3. DESCRIPTION: The largest concentration of military buildings at Fort H.G. Wright remain on the west end of Fishers Island, SW of Hay Harbor. This area is bounded by water on 3 sides, to the N, S, and W. A small residential area is located to the N, and an air field covers the site to the S. Remnants of fortifications exist on Wilderness Point and blount Prospect. 4. SIGNIFICANCE: Fort H.G. Wright was named for General Horatio G. Wright, a Civil War commander and the Chief' of Army Engineers from 1879-1884. Originally comprised of 33fi acres, the fortifications were established in 1898 to provide defense in the Spanish-American War. Fort H.G. Wright became an integral part of the coastal fortifications intended to protect New York, New Haven, and Providence from foreign attack during WWI and WWII. The largest of these coastal fortifications, Fort H.G. Wright became the operations center for the Harbor Defense of Long Island Sound. By WWII, the Harbor Entrance Command Post was established on Mount Prospect, Fishers Island. Gun batteries and sighting towers located throughout the waters of L.I. Sound communicated with this centralized station. 5. MAP: fort H.G. Wright was determined inactive in 1949. NYS DOT New London quad HP-2 6. SOURCES: Fishers Island, A Book of Memories, by James and Joanne Wall, 1982. pp. 1.~,--%g5. Headquarters, First United States Army, Information Section, Release No. 15-58, January 14, 1958. Post Map, Fort H.G. Wright, 20 October 1948, Coll. H.L. Ferguson Museum. Fishers Island, Its History and Development, F.E. Hine, 1907. 7. THREATS TO AREA: BY ZONING [] BY ROADS [] BY DEVELOPERS [] BY DETERIORATION [] OTHER ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Many of the Officers' Quarters and related structures shown on accompanying map dated 20 October 1948 are in use as private res- idences and are well preserved. Many of the larger buildings to the west are unoccupied and deteriorated. 8. LOCAL ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AREA: Development as a park, hotel, residential housing, or other compatible use has been discussed. 9 PHOTOS: For photographs see' forms WE-3a-3e. Form prepared by ~urt 17ahofer, research assistant. Fort H.G. Wright WE-3 Fishers Island S ~40 000 FEET BLOCK ISLAND ;50o~m.£. 1 ~oSOUAz,D ,~ ] ~sooco FEE I .... 41'15' 751o~.[' 72'oo' NYS DOT New London quad Approximate fort boundaries indicated by circles. The It Was... 100 Yeat algo From the Star, June 9. 1888 Gov. Hill of New York has signed a bill abolishing hanK~ng lot all murders committed after Jan. 1. 1889. and submitting death by electricity thereafter. Amagansett Our whaling crews were off chasing a finback whale on M~.~day, but were unable to get a chance to strike him as the mon'~tcr was very wild. A new Life-Saving Station is to be erected at Napcaguc. the one recently erected at Georgica. Work s~ill be ct~mmcnccd next month. The Vienna journals announced the death of a peasant .~ Mora~ ia aged 142 }cars. The United States Government has leased of the Mcs'~rs. about 300 acres of land near Race Point, Fishers' Island, for a rifle range for target practice during the momhs of July, August. and Sep- tember .... [t is stated that a sham battle will take place between United States troops and thc North Atlantic Squadron. ~hcn the latter is rendczv~ousing in Gardiner's Bay for gun practice. Potts and 14azlett, who distinguished themselves once Ily ~,oing through thc perilous Niagara whirlpool rapids in a small b.~rrcl, h.tvc resolved to perform a much more dangerous feat, that of gumg over the Niaga[a cataract in the little craft. 75 Years.4go /9/3 From thc Star, June 6, 1913 "l ~acer's Arm" Because there are too many books, theater parties, d,,gs and gowns among their mistresses and an epidemic of "laccr's arm" among maids, the latter will furm a new union in Chicagu .r affiliate with the recently organized Household Workers' union. The ~hookists" say that the"lacer's arm" is caused by the ,~pcratio~ Continued ~ }n II-4 Fort H.G. Wright WE-3 Fishers Island Fort H.G. Wright Fishers Island WE-3 Fort H.G, Wright Fishers Island Fishers Island, frs History and Development, F,E. Hine, ]907. Fort H.G. Wright Fishers Island ~m mB~ On Fishers lsland, below~ab,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a,a~g~comraander'sste~tion / departure of two nea__~¢-inch ~u~ that overlooked The Views of the Nike station at Fort Tilden, on Rock. away Point ~ a~daeri~ below ri~M. Ceili~j o~ a hydraulic liJ~ miasile to the surfa~ Two sets of these doors are visible in the view pum the air. As each rocket cams off the elevator, it was trund~ to oae of six aear~ lauro~hin~ pad& Pictured at the centec is pa~t of a Nike Ajax and its launcher o~ a launch pa~ part ora the New Yorie City Parka Depart~rae~ MantauJe Point once carried shells frtrm matjazine& behind doors at left, toward the daylight and two 16-inch gun~ The well-practiced cannon fired a projectile the si~e of a amall ear, but, history reeord~ ~ver at an enemy. Rewsda¥, 2/1~/88. WE-3 w~ 3 ColleCtion quffol~ Count~'Hie~orical Society. Fort H. G. Wright, N. Y. By Capt. F. S. Sw~tt, C. A. C. G. WRIGHT, lq'. Y.. one of :e-time homes of the "Big fps," is located on Fishers eastern end of Long I~land ,.miles from New London. a-as first visited in 1614 by igator, one Captain Adrian ~aving named the larger is- further east after himself, mored a companion of the char. by naming th!s pre- ~ island after him. Fishers )fy, however, was so named i position in the early fishing the present tint at the Ialand was ~ot Indians ly occup:ed vere driven ~y combined he English, and Narra- :1 the great fat time in *rith later te General assachusetts icut resulted .isition by hrop, Jr., i44 further holding by )roprietor the Ind;an With his aually lived ',sland at [n- ~riods in a h occupied site of the o u s e until ', when he few London. I legends in- ~suai trouble ,qth the Indians, although no tinters occurred subs,.luent to of the Pequots in 1637. Cap-. he notorious pirate, operated undlng waters during the late dreds, and many a spadeful been turned on Fishers Island :h for his hidden loot. Being Aland on F/McA This Post is Sit- mated is Reputed Burial Ground of Capt. Kidd's Treasure the approach of an enemy on New Lon- don. To quote, "and svhereas there is a former order of council for the keeping of a ward upon Fishers Island for the discovery of an approaching enemy in order to give a more timely notice to New London by fixing one or two bea- cons made on said !sland for that account it is now ordered that the beacon made Fort Wr~ht on the west point of'Fishers Island shall be fired upon discovery made from Mount Prospect of one ship, or two other top- sail vessels standing in towards said is- land from the southard or northard of Block Island or upon discovery of five ships standing in from the southard or five from the northard of Block Island, pect Hill and North Hill afforded neces- sat',/, tactical advantages and they were added to the reservation. The post was named after Brigadier Gmeral Horatio Gouvernour Wright, a retired Ch'el oi Engineers, who rendered distinguished service to the Union in the Civil War. Built at a cost of approximately eight million dollars, it became the headquarters post of the Coast Defenses oi Long Is- land Sound. with Forts Terry. Michie, Trumbull, Mansfield, and Tyler as units in the command. The last three have since beet[ abandoned. To the man interested in the technical work offered by the "Big Gun Corps." the Coast Artillery garrison at Fort H. G. Wright affords pecu',iar advan- tages for detailed train- ing in engineering and art Ilery. As it is the coas', and heavy artillery training center for the Firsl Corps .*rea and [or the New York Na- tional' Guard and the' West Point Cadets. the season presents a sched- ule of in:cresting activi- ties difficult to equal. Seacoast guns and mor- tars and anti-aircraft guns are thundering forth steel projectiles each year /rom May to October. ' The. regular troops of the garrison ~_are assigued as instruc- 'lors to the '¢ar:ous or- ganizations in training, actually shooting large calibre guns at rapidly moving targets. The post is neces- sarily seli-reliant with respect to its. electric · power and telephone systems, and practical working knowledge is. obtained by the many-e, pen[tors under actual conditions of service. Theoreti- cal trainim/is greatly augmented by prac- tical exper:ence. Fort \Vright is happily s:tuated with respect to facilities, for amusement. The civilian portion of the island has in late Fort H.G.~k~ght Fishers Island I{F~%DQUART~RS F~IST U.S. ARB"f Information Section, Bldg. A-6 Governors Island, New York 4, N.Y. Tel~ WHitehall 4-7700, Ext. 5156 RELEASE NO. 1~-58 14 January 1958 FOR IN~EDIATE RELEASE LONG ISLAND'S ~ ~T~RN' SHIELD GOVERNORS 1S;~ND, N.Y., 14 January....About 120m~les long, with a~ area of 1';2~ square miles, Long Islmud, New York, has played a vital historical role es one of ~orica's most heavily defended areas. Geography has placed Long Island in a position of importance for three metropolitan areas in throe states. Ever since New York, New Haven and Providence became important to this country, Long Island and its smaller islands have become militarily important to tho throe cities. In tho outer ring of ~n elaborate defense system around thcso three cities wore eight military installations which have boom vital cogs in tho wheels of tho American defense effort, and a key to thc changing weapons and missions in tho U.S. defense pattern. Ro~ding from north to south those installations worc rich in history, tradition and legend, and yet often ~own to thc rosidcnts of tho mroa. In tho north, Fort Mc/mfiold, in Rhode Island, was 60 mcros in size. Fort Trumbull, Connoc$icut, had an area of 1~ acres, 2 rods, 27 polcs and 2 links according to thc records. Fort Michio, on Groat Gull Island, had an ~roa of only 10 acres. Fort H.G. Wright, thc "mother" for most of these posts h~d a total area of ~54 acres- most of Fisohcrs Island. Fort Terry, on Plum Island, was tho l=rgost of tho eight posts, totaling ?~7 acros~ Fort Tyler, on G~rdincrs Point totals about 14 ~cros. Camp ~ikoff, which w~s in tho Fort Pond area, had tho shortest life, but brief ~tional fame. Camp Hero, on tho -mouth shore of Long Island at .Montauk Point was thc most mysterious, tho most recently mctive post and tho most heavily camouflaged. Fort Mansfield, situated on Napantroe Point, near Watch Hill, Rhode Isl-nd, w~s part of an original coastal defense network of Long Island a r~ Long Island Sound. Named in honor of Major General J.F. ~m~efield, a veteran of tho %~r with Mexico and the Civil War, tho fort was built during thc.period of public concern preceding tho Spo.uish-AnerlcanWar of 1898. Recognizing the importance of coastal defense guns at this point the federal government maintained the fort. In tho early years of the First ~orld~ar the Army son~Fort Mansfield ~e largest coastal defense guns it had. After ~orld War I, the federal government relmxed some of the vigil ~long the coasts, and Fort Mausfield was authorized for s~le on M~rch East Hampton Free Library, file LL 207. .~d' ISLAND'S EASTERN SHI~," WE-3 Fort H.G. Wright Fishers Island Fo~ H.G. Wright on Fischers Isled in the Block Isled Sold co~ded the sound and ~ners Bay to the south. It w~s named in honor of ~Jor ~ne=el Horatio G. ~ri~, = disti~ished Civil c~der ~d Chief of ~ EnEi~ers ~om 1879-18~. T~ island h~s ~d ~eds of trees~e seekin~ ~sitors, for legend has it ~he no~orious Captain Kidd b~ted boo~y on Fls~ers Is~nd. To date no one ~s fo~d ~y si~n of the ~re~ure. · The str~te6ic impo~-n~e of the isl-~a ~s ~rst in 17~ when ~ si~l beacon was erected on ~ospect Hill. The ~econ ~s designed to ~rn ~ city of New London of ~ enc~ a~=ck. In 1898 the federal ~er~ent p~c~scd = l~r~e tra~ of l~d on the western ond of %he isl~.d fo~ cs~bl!s~cnt of coast defonse fcrtific~tions. T~ cor~t~ction of Fe~ H,G..~ri~ht, which bcK~n with the ~rection of thu ~ enplmcenents in 1898, cost the ~.6r~%nt a ~otal of about 8 million dollars. It bec~ the ho~dqu~ers of the Co~st ~fense cf Lon~ Isl=ud, with Fcrta Terry, }2ichi~, T~mBull, H~sfield ~d Tyler ~ u~ts in the cc~nd. Fo~ H.G. Uri~ht sewed ~s tho co~st ~nd hee~ artillery trainlr~ ce~er for ~ ~ Nation~l ~d U:~its ~d ~es~ Point Cadets. Of ~1 the install~tio~ within ~ho outer rin~ of metropolitan defenses, Fo~ H.$. ~ri~ht wes t~ most self-s~fici~nt ~d bes~ The install=tion ~s equipped with its ~ electric power system ~d %olephone sys~m~ which ~s hockod ~to t~ "mainland" systs=. The fo~ ~d its o~ fa~ ~nd its ~n tr=ns~5tiur system, In 1949 Fo~ H.G. %Tri~h~ wa s formed inactive ~d w~s authorized for solo. To date this valu=bl~ piece of prope~y ~s not been sold. Fcrt Ter~, on ~1~ Islm%d, was ~ch bi~er th~ tho other i~ta~attons. E~tablished in 1898 =~d nrmed in honor of ~Jo~ ~n~r=l ~frod H. Terry who co~dod Union ~rc~s ~r~ the Civil th~ post w=s &~rrisoned by the Co~st ~il~ ~om t~ ~te of its activation. ~rin~ t~ . ~mmer months ~its se~ to Fort H.G. ~ri~ht wer. sent in ~rn to Fort Te~y for supplement~ry tr~i~n~ In the tec~i~s of Co~t'~' Defenso operations. A% the end of %Vorld ~ar II Fort Tsrry w~s tn~ctivated~ ~s ~intain~d o~y by a s=ll c~ detac~c~ from Fo~ H.G. Uri~. It re~ined on this .somi-~ctiv~ status ~til ~ftsr ~ar II when ~ miltt~y persor~%~l woro withdr~ frcm tho post ~ i$ was 10~ in the h~nds of = few civili~ carut~kers. In 195B~ how~v~, the A~ Chemic~ C.?rps took posessi[-n of the facilities ~d utilized them for research ~.nd testin~ purposos. In J~y of 19~4 the Ar~ turned over all its facilities to the Departm~t of A~rio~%~e, w~ch ~d' contractual to ~gke c{ntrol of t~ res~ of the isl~d =t the se= time. Th~ m~%i-~llion dollar ,~i~l Diso~se L~bor=to~ Df th~ D~p~ent of AEriculture now occupiss ~11 of F~s ~sl~d. East Hampton Free Library, file LL 207. A sampling of structures, c, 1986 photos by Sarah Malinowski. Fort H.G. Wright Fishers Island WE-3 A sampling of struc- tures, c. 1986 photos by Sarah Malinowski. I A samplin'.; ol 1986 photus by Sarah Malkno;~ski. . H.G. Wright ~ers Island t.' ..... ':~ ' ~ '"'. ?,.','~,,z..'.'.r~-'. l '1 WE-3 A sampling of structures, c. 1986 photos by Sarah blalinowski. Non commissioned officer~ qu~rters~ , Owned by Fishers Island Ferry Dis- ,trict, housed N.Y. State Police of- fic.e~s in 1982.