Fort Golgotha and the Old Burial Hill Cemetery

Fort Golgotha and the Old Burial Hill Cemetery is the site of an historic cemetery, officially known as the "Old Burying Ground",[2] and the location of a former Revolutionary War-era fort, known as Fort Golgotha, at Main Street (NY 25A) and Nassau Road in Huntington, New York. It is located in the Old Town Green Historic District and Old Town Hall Historic District.[3][4]

Fort Golgotha and the Old Burial Hill Cemetery
The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building at Fort Golgotha.
Fort Golgotha and the Old Burial Hill Cemetery is located in New York
Fort Golgotha and the Old Burial Hill Cemetery
Fort Golgotha and the Old Burial Hill Cemetery is located in the United States
Fort Golgotha and the Old Burial Hill Cemetery
LocationMain St. and Nassau Rd., Huntington, New York
Coordinates40°52′17″N 73°25′26″W / 40.87139°N 73.42389°W / 40.87139; -73.42389
Area2.5 acres (1.0 ha)
Built1782
ArchitectCol. Benjamin Thompson
NRHP reference No.81000415[1]
Added to NRHPMarch 2, 1981

The fort, which takes its name from Golgotha, was built by the King's American Dragoons in 1782[5] on orders of Colonel Benjamin Thompson, commander of the regiment,[6] on the site of the town burial ground. The nearby Presbyterian Church was dismantled, and its timbers used in the fort's construction. The fort was one, of a network, of British fortifications, in and around Huntington. East of town there was a larger fortification on the site later known as Gallows Hill, now known as "Fort Hill",[7] Fort Slongo (now known as Fort Salonga) even further to the east, and Fort Franklin to the north on Lloyd Neck. After all British forces withdrew from the region in 1783, the fort was dismantled, the burial grounds restored and the Presbyterian Church rebuilt.[8] The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Old Burying Ground (17th Century) & Fort Golgotha (1782)" (PDF). www.huntingtonny.gov.
  3. ^ NYS Parks & Recreation (n.d.). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Old Town Green Historic District". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-02-20. See also: "Accompanying 17 photos".
  4. ^ NYS Parks & Recreation (n.d.). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Old Town Hall Historic District". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-02-20. See also: "Accompanying 12 photos".
  5. ^ "Fort Golgotha". dmna.ny.gov.
  6. ^ "Loyalist Institute: King's American Dragoons, Thompson's Troop". www.royalprovincial.com.
  7. ^ Mather, Frederic Gregory (29 June 2019). The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut. J. B. Lyon Company, printers. ISBN 9780806304953 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2010-12-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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