Located inside Fort Hamilton in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, the Harbor Defense Museum, sometimes known as The Caponier, details the history and evolution of New York City's coastal defense systems. It is the only army museum in the city and houses a collection of military artifacts from the Revolutionary War to World War II. Examples include United States Army weapons, uniforms, small arms and cannons. It also has military themed art and historical items from Fort Hamilton. The cornerstone was laid for Fort Hamilton on June 11, 1825. In 1839, the 27th Regiment, New York Militia found a home there and began training. The post became the first National Guard Training Camp in the United States. Fort Hamilton is the U.S. Army's ambassador to New York City serving 5,000 full time active duty personnel, 126 Army Reserve units, 100,000 military retirees and numerous Department of Defense agencies throughout the greater New York City metropolitan area.

The Harbor Defense Museum at Fort Hamilton.

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The United States expanded the fortifications protecting its harbors and waterways early in the 19th century. Fort Hamilton, built between 1825 and 1831, became part of the Third System of Fortifications built throughout New York City. The Harbor Defense Museum now occupies Fort Hamilton’s caponier, a freestanding bastion located within the fort’s dry moat. Both structures are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Harbor Defense Museum

Starting at John Paul Jones Park on the Brooklyn waterfront across from Staten Island, just north of the Verrazano Bridge, drive or hike under the bridge overpass to Fort Hamilton and its museum (you'll need I.D.). Then walk or drive north to historic sites in the Dyker Heights & Bensonhurst neighborhoods, including an old Dutch cemetery & church in the colonial Village of New Utrecht.

It honors the Dover Patrol, a unit of the Royal Navy based off of Dover and Dunkirk from 1914 to 1918 and whose primary mission was to safeguard the English Channel, preventing the German Navy from using it and therefore forcing it to take the long route through the North Sea) and preventing, though not always successfully, any attacks from German U-boats in the English Channel. Other responsibilities that fell on the Dover Patrol during the war include the escorting of Allied ships, for which they had an extremely high rate of success, and the transportation and send off of both air and naval forces. It is perhaps best known for its involvement in the Raid of Zeebrugge, an unsuccessful operation in Belgium meant to prevent further German naval vessels from reaching the English Channel by blocking the port of Ostend, and perhaps of opening another front by providing transport to ground troops meant to reach Zeebrugee. Nevertheless the day of the operation strong winds prevented the initial smoke screen from proving effective, and the rapid change in the tides quickly dismantled the planned strategy and the positions of the vessels involved. This resulted in some attacks being rendered obsolete as some ships had been blown from their initial positions and their guns could no longer fire on the desired objectives, and some ships sustaining damage or even being sunk due to the mines placed around the area that they would have otherwise avoided. On the first side, the following is inscribed: ""This monument/to the/Dover Patrol/Erected as a tribute to the/comradeship and service of the/American Naval Forces/in Europe/during the World War". The second side has the inscription "1931" on it, signifying the year of arrival of the memorial to the park , and the third side expresses: "To the glory of God/ and in everlasting/ remembrance of the Dover Patrol/ 1914-1919/They died what we might live/may we be/worthy of their sacrifice”.

The Dover Patrol Monument was given to the park as a gift by Sir Aston Webb, the English architect that designed the original Dover Patrol Monument located at St. Margaret's Bay in England, along with another replica that stands today in Cap Blanc-Nez, France. It stands at 75 feet tall and is made up of grey granite blocks. It has four sides, three with inscriptions and one with a shield-like mantle on what seems like a window.  It is an exact replica of the original and was initially located in Fort Hamilton until 1961, when it was moved to the John Paul Jones Park in order to facilitate the construction of the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge.


Dover Patrol Monument-John Paul Jones Park

Colonial Americans understood the importance and need of a military presence in the New York City Area in 1776. A military installation of some kind has been present in the area since then. But it was in June 1825 that the cornerstone was laid for Fort Hamilton. It took six years to build the facility.Fort Hamilton played especially significant roles in the Civil War as well as both World Wars. It was key in the areas of defense, training and deployment in those wars. Many expected that the base would be closed in 1995 as part of Congress's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. However, the base was not recommended for closure and continues to serve as both an active base and a training center for Army Reserve and National Guard units. Today, the United States Army Garrison Fort Hamilton is the only active military base in the city of New York. As such, it has served as a critical base of operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the terrorist attacks of September 11th, and many other natural disasters and threats. The base serves a joint federal and state mission, providing ready Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Reserve personnel for the active U. S. military and the state of New York.

Historic Fort Hamilton is located in the southwestern corner of Brooklyn, New York, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst. Its mission is to provide the New York metropolitan area with military installation support for the Army National Guard and the United States Army Reserve. Fort Hamilton is a combined community comprised of active-duty Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Reserve Components. The orginal part of the fort was constructed from 1825 to 1831, but there have been many additions since the 1870s. This entry takes you to the Visitors Entrance into Fort Hamilton at 101st St. and Ft. Hamilton Parkway, underneath the Verrazano Bridge overpass. See the Harbor Defense Museum Clio entry for the museum on the base, in the preserved portion of the fort, and how to access just the museum.

Fort Hamilton

By the late 1800s, Beatrice and Simone Saitta, Italian immigrants, were highly successful in the grocery and wholesale produce business. They wanted a home in the southern Brooklyn neighborhood of Dyker Heights, which was then a comfortable, up-and-coming suburb. The Saittas commissioned John J. Petit to design a home. Petit was then one of the most well-known architects working in Brooklyn and would eventually design some of the most acclaimed homes in the area. Petit's design consisted of a heavy Tudor influence combined with Medieval elements. The elegant home features diamond pane glass windows and dentil trim. Though its unusual merging of influences make the home a bit of a curiosity, it immediately became one of the most prominent homes in the neighborhood and set the tone for future homes in well-to-do parts of Brooklyn. The Saitta house occupies a prominent location on a hill that affords excellent views of the harbor and the park. Many of Petit's designs were demolished over the years. The Saitta house has not only survived but is perhaps the most intact of the homes designed by the architect. The Saitta house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. It is one of the few remaining original homes in Dyker Heights and is the pride of local preservationists.

Made up of a curious blending of Tudor and Medieval styles, Brooklyn's Saitta House is one of the area's more unusual homes. It was built in 1899 for Beatrice and Simone Saitta. The home was designed by architect John J. Petit, who built a number of prominent homes in Brooklyn. The  home, which is privately owned, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Saitta House 

New Utrecht was settled by the Dutch West India Company's Cornelius Van Werckhoven, and after his death, by Jacques Cortelyou. In the early days of the Dutch Town of New Utrecht (covering present-day Bay Ridge, Borough Park, Bensonhurst, and Bath Beach), farm families typically buried their dead in a family cemetery on their farm. Some of the interments were later moved to the cemetery established in the 1650s on the outskirts of the Village of New Utrecht. The cemetery was on the Village of New Utrecht's main street (Kings Highway, now 84th St.).In 1700, a church was built next to the New Utrecht Reformed Church Cemetery along 84th St.; this former building was octagonal with a tall spire. Before that, the parishioners traveled to Reformed Churches in Flatbush or Gravesend for services. The area was occupied by the British during the Revolutionary War, who reportedly lived in the church and used the gravemarkers in this cemetery for target practice. A newer church building (St. John's German Evangelical Church in 1920s; Metropolitan Baptist Church now) stands in the location of the 1700 church, east of the cemetery. A new building for New Utrecht Reformed Church is located on 84th St. east of 18th Ave. (also a Clio entry) and was built in the late 1820s using stones from the previous (1700) church. The cemetery became a New York City landmark and was listed in the National Register in 1998, along with the parish house (built 1892) of the standing church; the church is a National Historic Landmark (1966) and was added to the National Register in 1980.Highlights of the cemetery include a communal, unmarked grave of Revolutionary War soldiers and an area near the intersection of 84th and 16th where many Afican-Americans (free and enslaved) were buried. Although the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument here in 1916 to local Revolutionary War General Nathaniel Woodhull, the general died near here after being wounded in the Battle of Long Island (Battle of Brooklyn) and was buried elsewhere on Long Island. The cemetery contains about 1,300 burials. Most of the early gravemarkers are upright tablets of red sandstone or brownstone. Limestone and marble became more commonly used in the cemetery's nineteenth-century gravestones, and are susceptible to erosion from environmental factors like acid rain. Granite became a more popular material by the late nineteenth century, and is more durable.New Utrecht Reformed Church and an organization called Friends of Historic New Utrecht have organized volunteer groups to clean up and restore the cemetery over the past couple decades. They had their work cut out for them in 2003 after Hurricane Isabel toppled a number of large trees in the graveyard. Earlier, a tall obelisk monument to two doctors who died fighting a yellow fever epidemic in 1910 was knocked off its base by a falling tree limb during Hurrican Floyd (1999). While new burials are rare now, they do happen once in a while.

The cemetery in Bensonhurst at 16th Ave. between 84th and 85th streets is one of the oldest in New York City. The New Utrecht Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery was established in 1653 to 1654 as the New Utrecht Burial Ground. The New Utrecht Reformed Dutch Church wasn't established until 1677, and then took over the burial ground. The one-acre cemetery contains gravestones with readable dates from about 1781 to the twentieth century. A newer church building built in 1898 (now Metropolitan Baptist Church) stands next to the cemetery where a former building was constructed in 1700 for New Utrecht Reformed Church. The cemetery became a New York City landmark and was listed in the National Register in 1998. Entrance to the cemetery through the chain link fence is on 85th St. off of 16th Ave; there is an historic sign in the cemetery at the 16th Ave./ 84th St. corner. The cemetery is not open to the public except during occasional tours by Friends of Historic New Utrecht.

New Utrecht Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery

The New Utrecht Reformation Church was organized in 1677 by Dutch settlers. It was used for the congregations of the Dutch reformers that lived in New Utrecht during the 17th century. Built on the same spot it is today, it was finished by 1700 next to the Old Utrecht Cemetery. During the Revolutionary War, the church was used as a hospital and riding school. After winning the Revolutionary War, the Liberty Pole was placed there in order to mock the British soldiers. During the sixteenth century, there was massive turmoil in Europe due to the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. At the time, there was a practice of selling indulgences. Indulgences were payments people could make in order to provide a reason for sinning. A man named Martin Luther was very against this and wrote the "95 thesis" on this topic. He strongly felt that this practice could not be an excuse for people to sin. He wanted desperately to reform how the Catholic Church worked, but he lacked the power. Therefore, he created his own branch of Catholicism. In order to avoid religious persecution, many religious groups moved to America. This would create many cities along the East Coast for religious purposes. Starting out in the "New World" would help them thrive and grow. Cities like Boston, Pennsylvania and New York were created for these religious groups. After a lot of struggling, the religious groups finally found a place where they could freely practice their own religions.&nbsp;After the movement, a Dutch settlement moved into Kings County around 1652&nbsp;and thus, built this place in order to create a church for Reformed members.&nbsp; There are a few spots near the church that hold importance to the New Utrecht community. The New Utrecht Cemetery is one of these places that helped society significantly.&nbsp;The cemetery, built in 1654, buried the dead of the town. There were special plots during the Revolutionary War to bury those who died in the war. Not only were soldiers buried there, but also slaves and free Blacks, showing the diversity of the community.&nbsp; The church was modified in 1828 in order to accommodate the community. The townspeople dismantled the initial church and used the stones from the original building to build the new church at 18th Avenue and 84th Street.&nbsp;Eventually, a parish house was constructed in 1892 and a parsonage in 1906. In addition, a monument of General Nathaniel Woodhull was erected in 1916 by the Daughters of the American Revolution in honor for his duty in the Revolutionary War.&nbsp;Fifty years later, the church was branded a landmark site. Being one of the oldest Reformation churches in America, it features weekly meetings for its members.&nbsp;

The New Utrecht Reformed Church is one of the first Reformed Churches created in America in the 17th century. Initially a lone church building, it now features the Liberty Pole, the Parish House, and cemetery. Now, they hold congregations weekly on Sundays in the morning.

Fort Hamilton to Dyker Heights & Bensonhurst/ New Utrecht, Brooklyn historical walking or driving tour

The Harbor Defense Museum

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information