As I mentioned in Parts One and Two, this post covers Fort Jay.
Sadly, I took a ferry over, and not a plane or helicopter, so I can’t include an aerial shot of this beautiful star-shaped fort.
The first fort built on the spot was in April of 1776 for the Revolutionary War.
In 1794, the fort was rebuilt once the Brits gave up the place after the Battle of Brooklyn, but it was mostly structured of wood.
Construction on the heavier fortifications began in 1808, and was then named after Federalist New York governor John Jay.
In the 1830s, the fort was renamed Fort Columbus after the explorer, but changed back to Fort Jay in 1904.
In 1964, the Army announced it was vacating the island, taking all of their toys along with them.
The Coast Guard took control of the entire island in 1965, using Fort Jay as staff offices, until it left in 1997.
The City of New York took over the island in 2003, making it a city park, which now lets folks like me take shots of cool things like this:
Stay tuned, next week, for Part Four, which will probably be the best (and creepiest) pics of this visit!
