Fort Fish was an earthworks fortification within what is now

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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

Central Park Conservancy The Central Park Conservancy is an American private, nonprofit park conservancy that manages New York City's Central Park under a contract with the government of New York City and NYC Parks. The conservancy employs most maintenance and opera ...

's composting area, which was once a

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

. 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 an American lawyer, city planner, and civic leader who was influential in the development of New York City. Green was responsible for Central Park, the New York Public Library, ...

, 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 Jo ...

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

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

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

Hamilton Fish Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808September 7, 1893) was an American statesman who served as the sixteenth governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a United States senator from New York from 1851 to 1857, and the 26th U.S. secretary of state from ...

). Only

Blockhouse No. 1 Blockhouse No. 1, colloquially known as The Blockhouse, is a Blockhouse, small fort in the North Woods (Central Park), North Woods section of Central Park, Manhattan, New York City. Finished in 1814, the Blockhouse is the second-oldest structure ...

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. 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