New York City's Secret Fort | Fort Wadsworth

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Chapters:
00:00 - Introducing Fort Wadsworth
00:42 - The Prehistory of Staten Island
01:25 - The first known military use of Fort Wadsworth
03:35 - The First known block house at Fort Wadsworth
03:59 - How the British Expanded Fort Wadsworth
05:44 - How the United States Expanded Fort Wadsworth
07:08 - Fort Wadsworth during WW1
09:54 - Fort Wadsworth during ww2
12:46 - When the Verrazano Narrows bridge lead to the downfall of Fort Wadsworth
16:52 - The Legacy of Fort Wadsworth

IT’S HISTORY - Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.

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» CREDIT
Scriptwriter - Ryan Socash
Editor - Karolina Pleskot
Host - Ryan Socash

» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

[ITSHISTORY]

Use code “Greece4ROK" for 20 silver keys exclusive for new players. Expired at 3 days after registration.

[douglasrice]

My family and I lived on Ft Wadsworth from 1994-1996 while in the Coast Guard. The Navy had just departed and turned over the housing to CG management. I lived in 3 different apartments during the CG's renovations of the housing; 2 on Florida Court and one on Iowa Circle. The NPS hadn't quite gotten around to doing much with the property since it was turned over to them, so all the forts and batteries were quite overgrown. We'd take family walks along the mostly abandoned roads...even at night it was quite safe, because the entire property was still gated and guarded. I even did some fishing from the beach below the housing area, with Hoffman and Swineburn Islands just off shore. During a beach clean up in April 1996, we started digging up a big chunk of metal, only to realize it was an abandoned army jeep 90% buried in the sand! I sometimes think of it and wonder what they did with it.... Thanks for the memories!

[Gamer-boy]

One of my ancestors was stationed at and helped build Fort Thompkins. He, also, crossed the Delaware with Washington.

[susanwahl]

I was stationed at Fort Wadsworth back in ‘78. It’s a lot different then. It was the chaplain’s school.

[configuremakeinstall]

The area is called fort wadsworth but the building along the water shown in most photos is called Battery Weed.

[MatthewCaban]

Growing up in that corner of SI, i only started exploring the fort recently. Great place to bike/walk. Excellent trails & steep hills with wonderful vistas as your reward for making it up. Battery Weed is open for tours seasonally. They have goats during the summer to help with the weeds/poison ivy.

[geardo]

Actually last I heard as of 2000, there is a Army Reserve unit operating out of this fort, part of several Reserve units in several forts around NYC.
The old toll booths for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Staten Island side required the removal of 1 of 3 rail lines on the Island.

[donalddodson]

Thank you, Ryan. I always appreciate your thorough research and effective presentation style. I am always a bit sad when places I had served at in the US Army are torn down. The last one to go is now part of the California State University Monterey Bay.

[bongwelll]

This is awesome I've seen it before, been living in NYC for half my life, but I never new it was that old.

[williamlloyd]

This site reminds me of Fort Point at the mouth of the Golden Gate. Fort was built in 1853 by Army engineers to protect the San Francisco Bay from foreign attack. Well worth a visit.
PS — Impressive to see Golden Gate Bridge looming over the fort!

[matthewnewton]

This channel is amazing!!! I’m from New York and I sometimes wonder about the history of the abandoned shit you can see when you’re high up on bridges or driving by abandoned lots. Incredible research. Thank you!

[nycashone]

I absolutely love the history videos from New York/ New York City areas. 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[sincerelyyours]

I grew up in northern Queens between the Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges and used to walk my dog on the narrow strip of land between the Throgs Neck Bridge and Fort Totten located just to the east of there. Though that was more than half a century ago, I don't ever remember learning about Fort Wadsworth in school. Even lived for a time in a Wadsworth Hall back in my college days but that was in Michigan. Fort Wadsworth appears to be yet another of the many places I have never heard of in the city of my birth so thanks for the research into this interesting bit of NYC history. You might do another one on Fort Totten which has its own NYC story to tell.

[dcentral]

I see this fort often when I pass the Verrazano Bridge through Staten Island.

[TomJosephi]

I reminds me of Fort Point, which stands next to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and has appeared in several movies. You might want to do a video on it and its colorful history.

[jetsons]

Ryan, another great watch, so much history---so little time. How about the Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum, it looks REAL old with lots of history. The main gate is on W 153 street, NY NY, it looks like the city grew all around it and is almost chocking it off. John Jacob Astor IV Grave is there.

[marlonmoncrieffe]

😃 Ah, I am a U.S. Army Reservist, here in New York City, and my weekend monthly training weekends are at Fort Wadsworth!

❤ Thanks for making this video!

[jeffgolden]

To fully explain Fort Wadsworth, don't you also need to explain its proximity and interaction with Fort Hamilton?

[mikekolczynski]

In the 1990s, I installed HVAC systems in the Family Housing building's for the Navy Homeport program.

[timrohla]

Thanks for another interesting and informative history video. Ryan, you never disappoint and do an outstanding job of making history interesting, no small feat for sure! Keep up the outstanding videos, you always knock it out of the park! Kudos my friend, as always I'm looking forward to many more of your instant classics.