Fort Schuyler
Throggs Neck | built 1934
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1833
The Army starts building Fort Schuyler on Throggs Neck to guard the Long Island Sound approach
Work on the fort began in 1833 as part of the third system of coastal defenses planned after the War of 1812 exposed weak spots on the East Coast. It was dedicated in 1856 when about three quarters finished, but troops did not garrison it until 1861. Named for Continental Army Major General Philip Schuyler, it worked with Fort Totten across the water to choke off ships heading for New York.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1856
Fort Schuyler takes shape as a five-sided granite fort with walls up to eleven feet thick
The Landmarks Preservation Commission described a pentagonal fort of Connecticut granite planned to mount 312 guns, with walls between five and eleven feet thick. Its rock-faced stones are laid in level courses with flush joints; small arches are cut from single stones while larger openings are built of voussoirs around a keystone. Apart from a square-headed main entrance, there is little hint of the Greek Revival style fashionable when it was built.
“This handsome pentagonal Fort, built of Connecticut granite, was originally designed for an armament of three hundred and twelve guns.”
- 1861
Civil War regiments, including the Irish Brigade and Duryee's Zouaves, drill at Fort Schuyler before battle
Once the Civil War began, the fort became a place to mobilize and train volunteers. Units that trained there included the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, known as Duryee's Zouaves; the First California Regiment raised by Senator and Colonel Edward Dickinson Baker, later the 71st Pennsylvania; and the 69th and 88th New York, the first two regiments of Thomas Meagher's Irish Brigade.
“Units trained at the fort before heading to combat included the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry "Duryee's Zouaves…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1863
An artillery battery takes over the fort and spends the war guarding prisoners and tending patients
From January 1863 to March 1864 the 20th Independent Battery of New York Volunteer Artillery garrisoned the fort. The work was considered dull: the gunners served as guards and hospital stewards rather than artillerymen. During the war the fort held as many as 500 Confederate prisoners and Union military convicts, and the grounds included the McDougall Hospital, built for 2,000 beds.
“Duty at the fort was reported to be a dull assignment as the men took the roles of guards and hospital stewards, not artillerymen.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1865
The Anderson Zouaves muster out at Fort Schuyler, closing out its Civil War service
After serving with the Army of the Potomac's VI Corps and in the defenses of Washington, seven companies of the Anderson Zouaves garrisoned the fort from July into August 1865, while two other companies went to Fort Wood on Bedloe's Island. The regiment was finally mustered out of service at Fort Schuyler on August 30, 1865.
“The Anderson Zouaves finally mustered out from Fort Schuyler on August 30, 1865.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1934
The Army hands Fort Schuyler to New York State, which turns it into a merchant marine academy
After the Army put the fort on its abandoned list in the late 1920s, Robert Moses wanted it for a state park while backers of the New York State Merchant Marine Academy wanted a permanent shore base. The academy side won a long political fight. The state took over the disarmed fort in 1934; Works Progress Administration crews restored it, and the academy received it at a 1938 dedication; the school later became SUNY Maritime College.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1966
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates Fort Schuyler a city landmark
The commission named the fort a landmark on April 19, 1966, after hearings in January and February at which nobody opposed it. The college's president, retired Coast Guard Vice Admiral H. C. Moore, wrote in support. The report noted that the fort had been garrisoned in the Civil War, abandoned in 1870, and not rehabilitated until 1934, when the WPA restored it for use by the Merchant Marine Academy.
- 1986
Part of Fort Schuyler opens as the Maritime Industry Museum
In 1986 a section of the fort was dedicated as the Maritime Industry Museum. Exhibits trace the story of American shipping, from merchant mariners to New York's port, as well as the fort's own past. The fort also houses the college's Stephen B. Luce Library and administrative offices.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Fort SchuylerWikipedia
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