05/28/2026
Here we are with our Semiquincentennial, also known as Bisesquicentennial, the Sestercentennial, or the Quarter Millennium, coming closer each day. How many names do we need for the 250th Anniversary of the Birth of our Country? Well, it is a big deal, so perhaps the more the merrier.
We realize that, for some countries, 250 years is new, but not here in the good old USA! Which is why there are dozens of events being planned all around us to celebrate this occasion. We hope that you have found some to be of interest to you. If not, please watch our page if you can, or scan the QR code on the sign on our lawn. It will direct you to events across Suffolk County.
What was going on 250 years ago today? You will be pleased to know that you can check that out on Mount Vernon’s Washington day-day site! No, we absolutely did not make that up.
Anyway, while we had spies seemingly trotting all over Long Island getting ready to turn the tide, Washington may not have been so sure of the outcome.
No Man has a more perfect Reliance on the all wise, and powerful dispensations of the Supreme Being than I have, nor thinks his aid more necessary.
- George Washington to William Gordon
On the hill behind the Canoe Place Inn was situated a British fort under the ultimate command of General Henry Clinton in New York. The fort was strategically located, commanding views of South Country Road (modern Montauk Highway), Peconic and Shinnecock Bays, as well as the Atlantic Ocean. The fort covered approximately two acres on top of the hill. Several hundred troops were stationed at this location and British officers occupied the Inn, among them, the handsome Major John Andre, who later convinced Benedict Arnold to sell out West Point and ended up being hanged as a spy in the process.
There are still some around here who remember the remains of the fort on the hill. It was an empty space, used as a dump, for many years. However, it was all plowed under or removed during construction of the neighborhood on the north side of the train tracks, Holzman Estates. Although, one of the roads at the top of the hill is named Fort Hill Road as a nod to this missing bit of history.
There is also a sign commemorating all this that is situated on the west side of Newtown Road. One had stood here for many years, but it disappeared. Together with the Town of Southampton, the Historical Society was able to replace the sign as a reminder of what was once there.
We weren’t the only location to have a British Fort, You are probably familiar with Southampton’s. Currently it is a dog park on Windmill Lane and, if the politicians have their way, it will soon be a leaching field - so the usage will not really change much, but the dogs will be less happy.
The fortifications on Long Island were established by the British between 1776 and 1783. After their capture of New York City, the fortifications were used to secure good sailing to New York and were useful as a network of communication and intelligence gathering. Patriot raids from across the Sound were common.
After the war ended the forts fell into disrepair. The brand new Americans probably didn’t look fondly upon them, since they reminded them of British rule. In 1776 the Americans began building their own forts, which didn’t fare much better than the British. As time went on, development won out over history and the forts were demolished. While British forts tended to be earthen works, many American forts were constructed of wood, which didn’t help their longevity.
We have no written documentation of how life was during this time between the British and the soon to be Americans. Southampton Town extended to Quogue by this time, but the area was pretty sparsely inhabited. What is today the Canoe Place Inn was the center of the area. The rebels - or patriots, depending on who you were - must have crossed paths with the British. We don’t know of any spying that was taking place, but it is not out of the realm. All we have is a good imagination.
It is also not clear if the Inn only held British officers during this period or if it still allowed guests off of the road. We imagine that having a drink in a tavern full of tipsy officers would yield a few nuggets of information.
Most of the fighting on Long Island was to the extreme west, like Brooklyn. However, there was a skirmish at Fort Salonga, near Northport, where one continental soldier, Sergeant Elijah Churchill, was apparently wounded while doing something millitarily noteworthy and, as a result, received the Badge of Military Merit directly from George Washington, the first one to do so. This badge is considered the forerunner of the Purple Heart.
Turner also fought in the Battle of Fort St George, this fort being the Manor of St. George, but with fencing, in what is today Shirley - the manor is still there, by the way. In this battle, the revolutionaries were able to capture the fort, take prisoners and burn supplies.
The 80 men had crossed the sound in whaleboats from Fairfield to Mt. Sinai, endured a night hike to Shirley, fought, and hiked and sailed back to Fairfield with their prisoners. Along the way, they burned a British hay barn in Coram (so, an enemy fuel depot). As to whaleboats, don’t think about the Charles W Morgan, but rather the boats that she carried. And they did all this near the end of November, so yikes!
Then there was Fort Golgotha, built by the British towards the end of the war on a cemetery at the edge of Huntington Village, using wood from a church they dismantled and headstones for flooring and hearths. Not exactly a “hearts and minds” operation, it was more likely quite the opposite, meant to intimidate the populace. It probably did not pay to be a British Loyalist in Huntington after that.
Which brings us to Fort Franklin, four miles away on the easily isolated Lloyd’s Neck. No, it was not named for Benjamin, of course, but for his loyalist son, William Franklin. Older than Fort Golgotha by some years, it was probably put there to help control Long Island Sound and the approaches to New York City. In the end, it was a place the loyalist refugees went to for protection.
Then there was loyalist Setauket, not a fort, just a village, but fortified (so is my breakfast cereal). It did survive an attack by the Continentals in 1777. If you watch television, then you probably know that the village was a hotbed of espionage activity, though we suspect it, in reality, consisted of much more common sense than the television version and a lot less s*x - after all, they were British.
Then there was Sag Harbor. Not so much of a fort as a small earthen canon battery to control the harbor. As we seem to mention tirelessly, Sag Harbor was about the only deep water port out here at the time. And the battery was built on…? Yes, a cemetery. The Old Burying Grounds, next to the Old Whaler’s Church. Seeing a pattern here?
Maybe it is not as bad as it seems, in this case. While every country has its wartime atrocities to deal with - often the result of combining young men, abject fear, and adrenaline - the British have generally been honorable over the centuries. In this case, I think it had more to do with cemeteries often being built on hills, closer to God, with a good view. Perfect place for a canon.
There were many more forts on the island during the revolution. Some can still be found. There were other fortifications built here at other times, mostly to protect the approaches to the city. During and after the Spanish American War, with the advent of steamships and long-range artillery, gun emplacements were built on Fisher’s Island and Plum Island. During World War II, emplacements and early radar were built at Camp Hero in Montauk. As the Cold War kicked off, larger radars watched for intercontinental bombers. Nike missiles stood guard at many Long Island locations later on.
And if you don’t think that these modern versions count as forts, we don’t know what else to call several feet of steel-reinforced concrete walls.
Still, it is those forts from the Revolution that, somehow, seem more… historic. They are easier to understand, easier to imagine being in one, than a Cold War bunker, cut off from the world, and piled high with survival rations.
England is often referred to as an island fortress. Ironic that they built so many fortresses right here.
