National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Fort Wadsworth Historic District

Daly, John; Olausen, Stephen; Heitert, Kristen

A National Registration of Historic Places Registration form for Fort Wadsworth Historic District Narrative Description Summary Paragraph: The Fort Wadsworth Historic District encompasses 117 acres of the former military reservation that was developed on the northwestern point of Staten Island overlooking the Verrazano Narrows beginning in the late eighteenth century to guard the entrance to New York Harbor. The district is within Staten Island Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area and is maintained as a public park that interprets the history of the fort and provides views of New York Harbor and the New York City borough of Brooklyn to the west. The site of Fort Wadsworth was initially fortified during the Colonial period and was acquired by the Federal government in 1794. The district contains a total of 83 counted resources of which 62 are contributing (33 buildings, 17 structures, and 12 sites) and 21 are non-contributing (16 buildings and 5 structures). Two of the contributing structures, Battery Weed (formerly Fort Richmond, built 1847-1864) and Fort Tompkins (built 1859-1876), were previously listed in the National Register and are large granite structures that were developed as part of the Third System of American coastal. Twelve concrete gun batteries and mine-related infrastructure date from the Endicott Period of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, and one gun battery was constructed during World War II. Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph: Fort Wadsworth Historic District is eligible for listing in the National Register under Criteria A, C, and D. The district derives its primary national significance under Criteria A and D in the area of Military History from its association with the development of the United States’ coastal defense system between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries. The development of the system was an essential component of military policy during the formative years of the nation when the risk of waterborne invasion posed the most serious threat to security. The prominent port cities that served as vital links in the country’s commercial and communication systems were the most likely targets. As the most important American port, New York City received a large share of the resources devoted to the system and ultimately was guarded by a ring of mutually supporting coastal fortifications that covered multiple avenues of approach to the harbor. Fort Wadsworth was a key element of the city’s defensive system during the property’s period of significance due to its strategic location above the Narrows at the southern approach to New York Harbor. The district also has the potential to yield substantive information about the functional and structural evolution of Fort Wadsworth as a vital element of the New York Harbor defense system through all of its iterations from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. The Battery Weed Light Station is individually eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion A at the local level in the area of maritime history due to its importance within the system of New York Harbor aids to navigation. Under Criterion C, the district is significant at the national level in the area of Engineering as an excellent example of a fortified military landscape that was shaped through multiple periods of development in response to evolving military technology. The district includes a variety of both outstanding and representative examples of coast defense infrastructure. Battery Weed and Fort Tompkins are examples of the design of military engineers Joseph C. Totten and John G. Barnard. The period of significance for the district extends from 1794, the year that the United States government began its First System defensive works at the site of what would become Fort Wadsworth, to 1946, the year that Fort Wadsworth was deactivated as a coastal defense facility.