Black Rock Fort
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Fort Nathan Hale
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The reconstructed Black Rock Fort at the Fort Nathan Hale historic site
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| Location | S end of Woodward Ave., New Haven, Connecticut |
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| Coordinates | 41°16′14″N 72°54′15″W / 41.27056°N 72.90417°WCoordinates: 41°16′14″N 72°54′15″W / 41.27056°N 72.90417°W |
| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Built | 1659, 1776 |
| NRHP Reference # | 70000711 |
| Added to NRHP | October 28, 1970 |
Fort Nathan Hale, also known as Fort Hale Park, Black Rock, is a 20-acre (8.1 ha) city park located on the east shore of New Haven Harbor in New Haven, Connecticut. It includes the site of a 1659 fort, a Revolutionary War-era fort, and a Civil War-era fort. The fort was named after Nathan Hale, Connecticut's official hero. Since 1921, the site has been owned by the state of Connecticut. It has been used as a park and maintained as a historical site by the City of New Haven. Educational programs are given throughout the year to students attending local schools.
The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. In 1970 the listing included three contributing buildings, one contributing site, and three contributing structures.
In early 1776, the colony of Connecticut commissioned the construction of a fort on a point of rock that stretched out into the harbor to protect the port of New Haven from the British. This was the location of an earlier unnamed fort from circa 1657, and on this site was erected Black Rock Fort. Unfortunately for the colonists, in 1779 British General William Tryon, during his raid of Connecticut coastal communities, captured Black Rock Fort along with its nineteen defenders, but only after they had run out of ammunition. The British burned the barracks as they left. In 1807-1812, the abandoned fort was reconstructed with six guns as Fort Nathan Hale under the second system of US fortifications, and it served to defend the port from the British once again during the War of 1812. In 1863, Fort Nathan Hale II was built alongside the original fort, out of concern that Southern raiders might strike the city during the Civil War, but the fort saw no battle action. This fort contained deep, earthen, bomb-proof bunkers. Unusually, the fort was partially demolished after the war.
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