Fort Stamford Site

Fort Stamford Site
View from atop the earthworks
Fort Stamford Site is located in Connecticut
Fort Stamford Site
Fort Stamford Site is located in the United States
Fort Stamford Site
LocationWestover, Stamford, Connecticut
Coordinates41°5′6″N 73°34′42″W / 41.08500°N 73.57833°W / 41.08500; -73.57833
Area5 acres (2.0 ha)
Built1781
NRHP reference No.75001920[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 10, 1975

The Fort Stamford Site, site of Fort Stamford, is a public park at 900 Westover Road in the Westover neighborhood of Stamford, Connecticut.[2][3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1] It is the site of the archaeological remnants of a military earthworks erected during the American Revolutionary War.[4][5] With a clear view of the Mianus River and Long Island Sound, the fort was built as part of a ring of defenses to defend the New England Colonies from attacks by the British garrison in New York City.[6]

History

American Revolution

During the Revolutionary War, Fort Stamford was built as part of a ring of forts (others at New Castle, New York and White Plains, New York) by George Washington[7] to aid in the defense of Connecticut from loyalist raids. The fort in its current form was designed by the engineer who constructed West Point, Rufus Putnam. General David Waterbury oversaw the construction in 1781.[8] At its peak, the fort was home to 800 soldiers.

Some form of military camp or fortification existed at the site prior to the construction of the current fort. During the February 26, 1779 raid on Greenwich by William Tryon, General Israel Putnam rode to Fort Stamford to rally reinforcements. Tyron crossed the Mianus Bridge on the old Bedford Road (current day Mianus Road/Valley Road), but quickly retreated after seeing the size of the Fort's garrison.[9] Troops from the fort then met Tryon in battle near Palmer's Hill and the Mianus River.[10] A planned flank attack down what is now Westover Road from the Fort never materialized due to misunderstanding of the commanding officer's orders.[9]

On July 2, 1779 during Banastre Tarleton's raid on Pound Ridge, New York, the 2nd Regiment of Light Horse under Colonel Sheldon prevented the fort from being directly attacked.[11]

Later in the war, roughly 300 men manned the fort. When the war ended, the fort was considered no longer necessary, and was promptly sold.[12] In later years, residents of the neighborhood began referring to Fort Stamford as "Fort Nonsense."[13]

As a Private Residence

The area encompassing Fort Stamford was a private residence known as Fortland Farm, owned for some time by the Ogden family.[14]

In 1926, the Stamford Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution dedicated a monument at the site. After a reception at Stamford Yacht Club, there a procession of automobiles up Westover Road to the site, where a fife and drum band played as the monument was dedicated. The monument itself was dedicated by Jean Parker Waterbury, a descendant of General David Waterbury who built the fort.[15]

Fort Stamford Monument Dedication

In 1928, stockbroker Marcus Goodbody, founder of Goodbody & Co. moved his family to the property. His wife Virginia constructed the Italianate Garden that still stands on the property, now known as the Goodbody Garden.[16]

Fort Stamford Park

The City of Stamford purchased 5-acre property in 1972 from the Goodbody family, and the park features some of their garden structures in the formal Goodbody Garden maintained by the Stamford Garden Club.[17]

In its current state, the Fort's parapets are mostly worn away. The remains of three of the four bastions are still visible.[18]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Stamford.
  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ State Commission on Culture & Tourism list
  3. ^ "City of Stamford Park List" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  4. ^ Roberts, Robert B. (1988). Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States. New York: Macmillan. pp. 123–124. ISBN 0-02-926880-X.
  5. ^ Fort Stamford at American Forts Network
  6. ^ "Fort Stamford haunted by history, and maybe ghosts". Stamford Advocate. October 30, 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  7. ^ Sawyer, Joseph Dillaway (April 1927). Washington. New York, NY: The MacMillen Company. p. 628.
  8. ^ "Fort Stamford". Stamford Patch. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  9. ^ a b Gillespie, Edward T. W. (1892). Picturesque Stamford. Stamford, CT: Gillespie Brothers. p. 77.
  10. ^ Mather, Frederic George (1913). The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut. Berkeley, California: The University of California. pp. 196–197. ISBN 9780806304953.
  11. ^ Gillespie, Edward T.W. (1892). Picturesque Stamford. Stamford, Connecticut: Gillespie Brothers. p. 91.
  12. ^ O'Conner, Kara (August 17, 2011). "Fort Stamford: The city's Revolutionary stronghold". The Stamford Times. Stamford, Connecticut.
  13. ^ Root, Mary Philotheta (1901). Chapter Sketches, Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution. New Haven, CT: Edward P Judd Co. p. 434.
  14. ^ Summer Social Register. New York, New York: The Social Register Association. 1911. p. 213.
  15. ^ Kramer Haff, Margaret (January 1927). "Work of the Chapters". Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine. National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
  16. ^ "Fort Stamford's Secret Garden". Stamford Patch. May 5, 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  17. ^ "Goodbody Family 1928-1970". Stamford Garden Club. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  18. ^ Gillespie, Edward T. W. (1892). Picturesque Stamford. Stamford, CT: Gillespie Brothers. p. 76.