THE BROOKLYN AMERICAN REVOLUTION
HERITAGE TRAIL: Major Sites
By Bob Furman
There are one hundred sites on the tentative list for the Brooklyn American Revolution Heritage Trail. These are
clearly major ones worthy of a visit. Other sites such as the numerous locations downtown and around the Gowanus
and Brooklyn Heights, are also crucial.
#1, 28 British Invasion Sites. Beneath the Verrazano Bridge and near Dreier Offermann Park is where over thirty
thousand British and Hessians landed to conquer and occupy Brooklyn and New York in July-August, 1776.
#13-14 Green-Wood Cemetery, Altar to Liberty and Red Lion Inn Site. The cemetery is one of the glories of the City;
a masterpiece of Victorian design. Everyone from DeWitt Clinton and the Tiffanys to Leonard Bernstein is buried
there. The Altar to Liberty on Battle Hill was the scene of savage combat on August 27, 1776. The Altar is a grand
statue of Minerva with plaques about the Battle of Brooklyn on its base.
The Red Lion Inn was the scene of first contact between the British and Americans. It is located on ungraded (natural)
land in the cemetery's maintenance area. The Inn was located at the junction of the Gowanus (shore) and Martense
Roads, the latter is which is preserved as a walkway. The site has been marked by a surveyor and is scheduled for
archaeology under the Heritage Trail program.
#15-17 New Utrecht Dutch Reformed Church, Liberty Pole, Academy and original church site, Cemetery and Milestone
Park (Van Pelt Manor site). Three areas around Eighteenth Avenue and 84th Street in Bensonhurst contain a rich
history. Liberty Poles, were erected all over the country in 1783 to mark the British withdrawal. New Utrecht's,
which may be the last one extant, began life at the 1939 World's Fair. The church itself is a lovely structure
whose balcony was restricted to slaves, many of whom may be buried in the nearby cemetery. Dr. Arthur Bankoff intends
to excavate the site of the original New Utrecht Academy on the church site. Milestone Park contains the Van Pelt
Manor site, which was an important house, which is also slated for archaeological study.
#22-23 Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church and Erasmus Hall. This church dates to 1790 and is where the Hessians camped
before the battle. Its bell tolled the death of George Washington in 1799. Its churchyard cemetery is a historical
treasure trove. Erasmus Hall across the street is preserved in the High School's yard and dates from the same period.
Founded by Alexander Hamilton and others, it was NewYork's first high school.
329-30 Van Sicklen (Lady Deborah Moody) House and Cemetery and Gravesend Cemetery. The 17th Century house is a
private residence and the cemeteries are a remnant of rural, colonial Gravesend that preserve the feeling of time
and place.
#35 Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church and Cemetery. The British camped here in their passage up Kings Highway towards
Howard's Inn. President Washington stopped here during his 1790 tour of Brooklyn and Long Island.
#38, 43, 44 Hendrick Lott, Wyckoff Bennett and Pieter Claesen Wyckoff Houses. These colonial era houses also act
as living museums of the past. Pieter Claesen is New York City's first landmark and is open to the public. Lott
and Wyckoff Bennett are being acquired by Historic House Trust. All three have been the subject of archaeological
study.
#47-49 Evergreens Cemetery, Howard's Inn site and Jamaica Pass. The British did an end run through this area and
surprised the American defenders at Flatbush Pass. General Howe walked into Howard's and forced William Howard,
Jr., at gunpoint, to guide him around Jamaica Pass which he believed fortified. Their route, an Indian trail known
as the Rockaway Footpath, is preserved in Evergreens Cemetery.
#55 Clove Road. This one-block remnant of a colonial road is the only one in Brooklyn that looks like one. American
troops were stationed in the area to defend the Bedford Pass. Community Board Nine is planning commemoration.
#60-64 Prospect Park. Valley Grove Pass, Porte Road, Lefferts Homestead, Marylanders and Lafayette Memorials. The
Park, besides being Vaux and Olmstead's masterpiece, contains major Battle of Brooklyn sites. It was designed to
preserve Flatbush or Valley Grove Pass, scene of the decisive engagement and of the slaughter of Americans who
may be buried beneath the Porte Road at Long Meadow. Also of interest are the Lefferts Homestead, a historical
children's museum, the Marylanders' Memorial column and the Lafayette statue by Daniel Chester French, who designed
the seated president in the Lincoln Memorial.
#65 Old Stone House. This is a 1934 reconstruction of the 1699 Vechte-Cortelyou House which saw the sacrifice 256
members of the Maryland Brigade to cover the escape of the Continental Army towards Fulton Ferry Landing. Witnessing
the engagement from Cobble Hill, Gen. Washington exclaimed, "Ah, what brave fellows I must lose this day."
This HHT House today is New York's only Revolutionary War museum and is operated by the First Battle Revival Alliance.
#66 Marylander Burial Site. Extensive evidence points to this area as the place of interment of the Maryland Heroes.
The site has been commemorated since the 1890s and was the subject of a National Park Service study and dig in
1956-57 supported by Congressional enactment. Dr. Bankoff plans excavations at a vacant lot on Eighth Street above
Third Avenue.
#84 Evacuation Site. Brooklyn Ferry saw the Dunkirk of the Revolution from which General Washington stealthily
withdrew his army to Manhattan and saved himself and the Revolution on August 28-29, 1776.
#87-88 Fort Greene Park. The hill on which the park is located held Fort Putnam in 1776 (#87) and Fort Greene in
1812, part of the defensive system intended to keep the British away from the bluff of Brooklyn Heights. Today
it houses the burial crypt of 1877 (#88) and monument (1908) to the Prison Ship Martyrs, the 11,500 American P.O.W.'s
who died in captivity on British hulks. Extensive improvements, a new visitor center and replacement of plaques
are planned by the Parks Department and community.
#97 Prison Ship Anchorage. In 1776 what became the Brooklyn Navy Yard was Wallabout Bay, where the British anchored
the charnel houses where thousands, mostly American sailors, perished. The interior waterway of the yard is where
the ships were anchored
More Information
