Castle Map

Fortress

Fort Jay

United States · 18th century

Founded
1794
Heritage status
National Register of Historic Places contributing property · National Register of Historic Places listed place
Location
Manhattan
Coordinates
40.69111°, -74.01639°
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Fort Jay in the United States
Photo: King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Fort Jay is a coastal bastion fort and the name of a former United States Army post on Governors Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. Fort Jay is the oldest existing defensive structure on the island, and was named for John Jay, a member of the Federalist Party, New York governor, Chief Justice of the United States, Secretary of State, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. It was built in 1794 to defend Upper New York Bay, but has served other purposes. From 1806 to 1904 it was named Fort Columbus, presumably for explorer Christopher Columbus. Today, the National Park Service administers Fort Jay and Castle Williams as the Governors Island National Monument.

Text adapted from “Fort Jay” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Fort Jay ranks #4,591 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #87 of the 110 mapped in United States. Founded 1794, it is older than 12% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 685 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,039 times in the last 60 days, more than 70% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how United States compares in the castle statistics.

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