Fort Wadsworth: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Gateway National Recreation Area
Killion J. 2024. Fort Wadsworth: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Gateway National Recreation Area. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 650080. National Park Service. NPS Northeast Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
Fort Wadsworth is a former military reservation that was transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1995 as part of the Staten Island Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area (NRA) in New York. Gateway NRA, which encompasses numerous former military and city park lands in lower New York Harbor and adjoining coastal areas, was established by Congress in 1972 along with Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco as the first park system specifically for urban recreation. The primary purpose of Gateway NRA is to preserve and protect, for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations, an area possessing outstanding natural, historic, and recreational features. Fort Wadsworth is on the western side of the New York Harbor Narrows, separating Staten Island to the west and the Borough of Brooklyn to the east. The location of Fort Wadsworth as a strategic military outpost—and as part of a larger network of coastal fortifications protecting the only entrance into New York Harbor—dates to the late eighteenth century. The military reservation was previously known by several different names and has expanded over time to include facilities still operating as active military installations within the legislated National Park Service boundaries. Several large fortifications, including Battery Weed, are on a headland directly on the western shore of the Narrows. Fort Tompkins sits at the top of a 120-foot high bluff. Both constructed in the nineteenth century, they are flanked by numerous outlying gun batteries and support infrastructure, most of which are presently obscured or inaccessible. The Fort Wadsworth site is visited for its scenic harbor views of the surrounding New York City metropolitan area. Much of the landscape is dominated by the towering Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge connecting the Borough of Brooklyn to Staten Island, which was completed in 1964. Dense vegetation obscures much of the historic defenses and surviving support infrastructure, as well as the historic fields of fire looking across the Narrows and eastward towards the Atlantic Ocean. Steep cliffs descending towards the water are largely unchanged over two centuries, as is the sloping landscape south and east of the main military batteries along the waterfront. Circulation patterns largely follow historic period roads and are accompanied by the addition of parking lots and recreational facilities. Fort Wadsworth can be described in four landscape character areas based on historical development patterns: Coastal North, Coastal South, Inland North, and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Generally, the Coastal North area was the first to be developed for military defenses, and the oldest forts are located here. As the installation grew, various batteries were installed within the Coastal South area. The Inland North area was used historically for more administrative, supportive, and housing functions where sight lines or fields of fire were not the primary focus. The Verrazzano- Narrows Bridge area encompasses the massive footprint of the bridge within historic Fort Wadsworth. (CLR 2022: 1-3)
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Killion, Jeffrey
- Date of Issue
- 2024
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GATE , NER
- Keywords
- 1812-1815, 1914-1919, 1939-1945, Africa, And The Atlantic, And War Vehicles), Architecture, Arms Storage, Battery (Defense), Battles In The North And South, Campground/Picnic Area, Defense, Domestic (Residential), Dormitory (Bunkhouse), Engineering, Expanding Science and Technology, Family Duplex, Fort Richmond, Fort Wadsworth, Fortification, Gateway National Recreation Area, Gateway National Recreation Area: Staten Island Unit, Government, Government Office, Historic Designed Landscape, Historic Site, Historic-Non-Aboriginal Archeology, Interpretive Trail, Landscape, Leisure-Passive (Park), Lighthouse, Military, Military (Fortifications, Military Facility (Post), Monument (Marker, Multiple Dwelling, Museum (Exhibition Hall), Outdoor Recreation, Parade Ground, Pedestrian-Related, Plaque), Political and Military Affairs 1783-1860, Political and Military Affairs 1865-1939, Recreation/Culture, Religion, Religious Structure (Church), Ruin, Scenic Landscape, Shaping the Political Landscape, Signal Hill, Single Family Dwelling, Single Family House, Sports/Athletic Field, Technology (Engineering and Invention), The Civil War, Transportation, Vacant (Not In Use), View, Visitor Contact (Visitor Center), War In Europe, War Of 1812, Water-Related, Wayside Exhibit., Weapons, World War I
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 650080: Fort Wadsworth