Fort Tyler was a coastal fortification on Gardiners Point Island, a small island off Gardiners Island, in Gardiners Bay, at the eastern tip of Long Island, New York. [1] [2]
The fort was constructed in 1898, during the Spanish American War, to protect Long Island from the danger of bombardment from Spanish Naval vessels. [1] [2] The fort was equipped with two 8-inch (203mm) rifles and two 5-inch (127mm) rifles. [3] The fort was abandoned in 1920 and President Franklin Roosevelt made it a bird reserve in 1938. During World War II, United States Naval forces used the fort as a target.
The fort may contain unexploded ordnance, so landing is prohibited. [4]
Baker Island, formerly known as New Nantucket, is an uninhabited atoll just north of the Equator in the central Pacific Ocean about 3,090 km (1,920 mi) southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, 42 mi (68 km) to the north-northwest; both have been claimed as territories of the United States since 1857, though the United Kingdom considered them part of the British Empire between 1897 and 1936.
Fort Wool is a decommissioned island fortification located in the mouth of Hampton Roads, adjacent to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT). Officially known as Rip Raps Island, the fort has an elevation of 7 feet and sits near Old Point Comfort, Old Point Comfort Light, Willoughby Beach and Willoughby Spit, approximately one mile south of Fort Monroe.
USS Quincy (CA-71) was a heavy cruiser of the Baltimore-class of the United States Navy. She was the third ship to carry the name.
Gardiner's Island is a small island in the Town of East Hampton, New York, in Eastern Suffolk County. It is located in Gardiner's Bay between the two peninsulas at the east end of Long Island. It is 6 miles (9.7 km) long, 3 miles (4.8 km) wide and has 27 miles (43 km) of coastline.
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the 2020 United States census, it had a total population of 28,385.
Fort Slocum, New York was a US military post which occupied Davids Island in the western end of Long Island Sound in the city of New Rochelle, New York from 1867 to 1965. The fort was named for Major General Henry W. Slocum, a Union corps commander in the American Civil War.
Fort Monroe is a former military installation in Hampton, Virginia, at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula, United States. It is currently managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service, and the city of Hampton as the Fort Monroe National Monument. Along with Fort Wool, Fort Monroe originally guarded the navigation channel between the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads—the natural roadstead at the confluence of the Elizabeth, the Nansemond and the James rivers.
Craney Island is a point of land in the independent city of Portsmouth in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia in the United States. The location, formerly in Norfolk County, is near the mouth of the Elizabeth River opposite Lambert's Point on Hampton Roads. It is home to the Craney Island US Naval Supply Center, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife area located west of the city of Tallulah in Madison, Tensas and Franklin parishes in northeastern Louisiana, USA.
West Sister Island is an island of the U.S. state of Ohio located in the Western Basin of Lake Erie. The 82 acres (33 ha) island, jointly owned by the United States Coast Guard and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is Ohio's only designated Wilderness Area, the West Sister Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is a 115,324-acre (466.7 km2) protected area situated on the southwest side of San Antonio Bay along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Texas. It is located in parts of Aransas, Refugio, and Calhoun Counties. It is situated on the southwest side of the San Antonio Bay, formed by the mouth of the Guadalupe River. It also includes nearly the entirety of Matagorda Island, a 38-mile barrier island. The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was established by Executive Order 7784 on 31 December 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the Aransas Migratory Waterfowl Refuge as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. Roosevelt issued a proclamation in 1940 changing the name to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
Fort Adams is a former United States Army post in Newport, Rhode Island that was established on July 4, 1799 as a First System coastal fortification, named for President John Adams who was in office at the time. Its first commander was Captain John Henry who was later instrumental in starting the War of 1812. The current Fort Adams was built 1824–57 under the Third System of coastal forts; it is part of Fort Adams State Park today.
Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park is a National Wildlife Refuge and State Park located on the island of Egmont Key, at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Egmont Key lies southwest of Fort De Soto Park and can only be reached by boat or ferry. Located within Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park are the 1858 Egmont Key Lighthouse, maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, and the ruins of Fort Dade, a Spanish–American War era fort that housed 300 residents. Egmont Key is located in Hillsborough County Florida on a narrow strip of the county that extends along the Tampa Port Shipping Channel.
Lion Gardiner (1599–1663) was an English engineer and colonist who founded the first English settlement in New York, acquiring land on eastern Long Island. He had been working in the Netherlands and was hired to construct fortifications on the Connecticut River, for the Connecticut Colony. His legacy includes Gardiners Island, which is held by his descendants.
The National Wildlife Refuge System in the United States has a long and distinguished history.
The Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge is an important breeding area for mammals, birds, and other animals. The National Wildlife Refuge is located on land surrounding Lake Lowell, just outside Nampa, Idaho. It serves as a resting and wintering area for birds, including mallards and Canada geese, along the Pacific Flyway and was named a "Globally Important Bird Area" by the American Bird Conservancy.
Gardiners Point Island is an island in Block Island Sound, New York, that was the former location of the Gardiners Island Lighthouse as well as Fort Tyler. Once a peninsula of Gardiners Island – permanently detached in 1888 by a storm – it had an area at least as large as 14 acres. Today it is part of the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, reduced, however, to a relative speck consisting of the foundations of the fort. It is locally referred to as "The Ruins".
Siege artillery is heavy artillery primarily used in military attacks on fortified positions. At the time of the American Civil War, the U.S. Army classified its artillery into three types, depending on the gun's weight and intended use. Field artillery were light pieces that often traveled with the armies. Siege and garrison artillery were heavy pieces that could be used either in attacking or defending fortified places. Seacoast artillery were the heaviest pieces and were intended to be used in permanent fortifications along the seaboard. They were primarily designed to fire on attacking warships. The distinctions are somewhat arbitrary, as field, siege and garrison, and seacoast artillery were all used in various attacks and defenses of fortifications. This article will focus on the use of heavy artillery in the attack of fortified places during the American Civil War.
Tybee National Wildlife Refuge was established on May 9, 1938, by an executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as a breeding area for migratory birds and other wildlife. Located in the mouth of the Savannah River, the 100-acre (0.40 km2) refuge began as a 1-acre (4,000 m2) oyster shoal, Oysterbed Island, used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a spoil disposal site to support their mandated harbor dredging activity. As a result, the majority of the refuge is now covered with sand deposits. The more stable portions of the island are densely covered with such woody species as eastern red cedar, wax myrtle, and groundsel. saltwater marsh borders parts of the island.
Plume hunting is the hunting of wild birds to harvest their feathers, especially the more decorative plumes which were sold for use as ornamentation, such as aigrettes in millinery. The movement against the plume trade in the United Kingdom was led by Etta Lemon and other women and led to the establishment of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The feather trade was at its height in the late 19th and was brought to an end in the early 20th century.
Dubbed the Fort Tyler Battery after President John Tyler whose wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler was born on the island, the structure remained in use until it was abandoned in 1920 due to erosion. In 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt declared the tiny island a National Bird Refuge and transferred the battery over to the Agriculture Department, which presumably lasted until World War II when the Navy, having a sizable presence in Montauk at the time, began using the concrete structure for target practice, reducing the historic battery to its current "ruined" condition.
Then, in 1938, the island (the fort is an island at high tide) was declared a National Bird Refuge by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and transferred to the Agriculture Department. However, during World War II, Fort Tyler was used for target practice and was reduced to its present state where it is popularly called 'The Ruins.'
Closed in the late 1920s. Status of batteries in 1921 was; Battery Smith, 2 - 8" Disappearing, 2 - 5" Pedestal.
It may have been the shelling of Sag Harbor that led to the construction of Fort Tyler in 1898 at the western tip of Gardiner's Island a point separating Gardiner's Bay from Block Island Sound. The old fort is now referred to by sailors as the 'ruins.' Closed after World War I in 1921, the fort became a target for live practice bombing runs during World War II. Live ordinance is reportedly still there, or so a 'danger' sign warns.