Cultural Landscape Report for the Battery Weed Headland, Fort Wadsworth, Gateway NRA

Gleisner, Jean; Auwaerter, John; Curry, George

This cultural landscape report focuses on the National Register-listed Battery Weed and its immediately surrounding landscape that forms a headland extending into the Narrows of New York Harbor and encompass a series of viewsheds. The boundaries extend from the overlook and stone wall along the top of the slope bordering Fort Tompkins, east to the seawall along the shore, and north and south encompassing portions of Batteries Bacon and Catlin. The project area includes several ancillary buildings and structures, most of which are related to a mine (torpedo) defense system that was deployed in the Narrows. The project boundaries do not correlate to any historic property or use boundaries. The site history chapter of this report tells the story of the development of the landscape within the project study area within the historic contexts of coastal defenses, Fort Wadsworth, and development of Staten Island. The existing conditions, analysis & evaluation, and treatment chapters focus on the project study area while addressing the larger Fort Wadsworth context only to the extent that it concerns management of the Battery Weed headland. The report addresses all landscape features within the project study area such as buildings and structures including Battery Weed, the Torpedo Storage Building, and the north dock; circulation such as the roads and mine railway; topographic features including batteries and the engineered slope above Battery Weed; and natural systems, notably successional woods and invasive vines that have obscured historic buildings and structures. This scope of work follows the four main objectives outlined in the project agreement for this report. The first objective is to document the historic design and evolution of the landscape to inform management decisions regarding the nature and appropriateness of proposed rehabilitation efforts to minimize the loss or disturbance of significant characteristics, features, and materials. The second is to document the changing historical appearance of character-defining site features, notably vegetation, circulation, topography, and the dock/seawall. The third objective is to provide limited contextual documentation on coastal fortifications and other contexts as appropriate in order to provide documentation that supports park consultation responsibilities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The fourth objective is to recommend treatment strategies to guide the design and engineering for upcoming construction projects as well as the long-term management of the cultural landscape. The organization of this report is based on A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques (NPS, 1998). This report is comprised of CLR Part I including site history, existing conditions, and analysis and evaluation, and Part II addressing treatment. The site history and existing conditions chapters document the physical evolution of the landscape in narrative and graphic form. The analysis and evaluation chapter draws on the body of historic research to identify a period of historic significance. It also examines the existing conditions of historic features to determine their status as contributing or non-contributing to the historic character of the cultural landscape. Treatment, the fourth chapter, provides conceptual-level recommendations that reflect the findings of the analysis and evaluation, framed within the context of broader park planning efforts.

Cultural Landscape Report for the Battery Weed Headland, Fort Wadsworth, Gateway NRA

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