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Zip Code: 11359
Area Code:718
Latitude:40.7900 N
Longitude:73.7808 W
Elevation:46'



H I S T O R I C A L   T I M E L I N E
1639:  Dutch assume control of peninsula
1640:  Land deeded to William Thorne ("Thorne Neck")
1788:  Ann Thorne (heir to William Thorne) marries William Wilkins ("Wilkins Neck")
1820-1860:  Third System of Fortifications
1821:  Government survey concludes that the property would be useful for coastal defense
1829:  Land sold to Charles and Martha Willet ("Willet's Point")
1829:  Charles Willet farmhouse constructed
1857:  110 acres of land purchased from George and Robertina Irving (heirs of the Willet family) for $200,000
1857:  Congress appropriates $15,000 for the building of the "Fort at Willet's Point"
1860s:  (late 1860s) Commander's Quarters constructed
1861:  Civil War begins
1861:  "The Fort at Willet's Point" officially designated Camp Morgan after Governor Edwin D. Morgan of New York
1862:  Start of Quartermaster's Wharf and Water Battery construction
1863:  26.35 acres of adjoining land bought from Henry Day and his wife for $57,000
1864:  Water Battery construction halted.  New rifled guns and pointed rounds could penetrate masonry coastal defenses, making them obsolete.
1864:  Brevet Major General Joseph Totten dies
1865:  Camp Morgan's first permanent garrison, three companies of engineers, arrives.
1865:  Grant General Hospital (first) completed
1865:  Civil War ends
1866:  Army Engineer School moves to Camp Morgan
1868:  Charles Willet farmhouse relocated and renovated
1870:  Officers' Club constructed
1870:  Camp Morgan designated Engineers Depot for the East
1870:  Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs begins index of buildings at military posts
1870:  Tunnel constructed from the torpedo magazines to the Water Battery
1871:  Post Chapel (first) began construction
1872:  Torpedo School established at Camp Morgan
1878:  War Department begins upgrading living conditions and consolidating Army posts
1879:  Post Chapel (first) completed
1885:  Endicott Board recommends new type of coastal artillery battery for strategic coastal locations
1885:  Engineer School of Application established at Camp Morgan
1889:  Main Gate relocated to present location
1892:  Firehouse constructed
1892:  Guardhouse at new main gate constructed
1896:  Post Hospital (second) constructed
1887:  Officers' Club expanded
1898:  Renamed Fort Totten, after Brevet Major General Joseph Totten
1898:  (Feb) Battleship Maine explodes in Havana harbor
1898:  (Apr-Aug) Spanish American War
1898:  First minefields off Willet's Point
1900s:  Brick officers quarters constructed
1901:  School of Submarine Defense and Torpedo School established at Fort Totten.
1901:  Army Engineer School moves from Ft. Totten to Washington Barracks (DC)
1902:  Quartermaster Dept. adds non-military buildings to posts, such as exchanges, schools, libraries, gyms, and bowling alleys
1902:  Engineering Supply Depot closed
1905:  Secretary of War William Howard Taft continues Endicott Board as Taft Board
1905:  Post Gymnasium constructed
1906:  Walter Reed Hospital (third) constructed
1909:  Commanding General's Quarters constructed
1910:  Post Hospital (second) demolished
1911:  Walter Reed Hospital Building (third) expanded
1914:  Walter Reed Hospital Annex (third) constructed
1917:  US enters World War I
1919:  Treaty of Versailles: World War I ends
1922:  Fort Totten's first anti-aircraft unit arrives
1926:  YMCA Building constructed
1935:  Coastal Artillery removed
1938:  Post Chapel (second) completed
1938:  Post Theater constructed
1941:  US enters World War II
1941:  Fort Totten made headquarters of the Anti-Aircraft Command of the Eastern Defense Command
1944:  Fort Totten becomes headquarters of the North Atlantic region of the Air Transport Command
1945:  (May) World War II ends in Europe (V-E Day)
1945:  (Aug) World War II ends in Asia (V-J Day)
1947:  Armed Forces Medical Research Laboratory established
1950s:  Fort Totten becomes headquarters for over half the Nike missile sites in the country
1953:  Chief Warrant Officer Jacob (Jack) Fein, (US Army, Retired) appointed Official Curator for Military History at Fort Totten
1955-1962:  Capehart (housing) Program
1962:  New York City fireboat JOHN GLENN arrives at Fort Totten
1967:  Air Defense Command headquarters moved out of Fort Totten
1971:  New York City fireboat JOHN GLENN departs Fort Totten
1971:  Job Corps moves onto base
1976:  Coast Guard opens small boat station on Fort Totten
1977:  Fort Totten declared surplus property
1981:  Federal government almost puts Fort Totten on sale for private development
1983:  Ernie Pyle Army Reserve Center completed
1995:  Congress approves the closing of Fort Totten as an economizing measure
2004:  49.5 acres turned over to the Parks Department by the National Parks Service and Defense Department
2005:  Fort Totten Park opens to the public

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Last updated: Sunday, 16-Sep-2012 17:35:38 EDT