Fort Jay - Federal Period

Federal Period

In the years following the end of British occupation of New York in 1783, the works fell to ruin. A decade later in 1794, the State of New York began to finance improvements to improve the earthworks, then in ruin. They were reconstructed as a square fort with four corner bastions and named after the Federalist New York governor, John Jay. By 1797 Congress appropriated $30,117 for continued construction. Eventually, to allow for continued federal funding and upkeep of the works, the state conveyed Governors Island and the works at Fort Jay to the Federal government in February 1800 for one dollar.

The earthworks were replaced by granite and brick walls and the footprint of the fort enlarged to designs by Major Jonathan Williams, Chief engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Superintendent of the United States Military Academy and supervisor of fortifications in New York Harbor.

Williams replaced the earthworks with sandstone and granite walls and an arrow-shaped ravelin all surrounded by a dry moat. The moat is in turn surrounded by a sloped grassy area or glacis, that was once was cleared of trees, providing a clear field of fire at any advancing enemy forces. The slope was also designed to retard or stop cannon shot from naval ships. The overall result is still evident in the fort's star-shaped design visible from the air and its position on the highest point on the island. Construction of the walls and gate of the existing fort were completed in 1808. Later small wood and brick barracks buildings were constructed in the enclosed square space.

The fortification was named Fort Jay for John Jay, a member of the Federalist Party, New York governor, Supreme Court Justice, Secretary of State and one of the "founding fathers" of the United States. Jay, as George Washington's Secretary of State, negotiated an unpopular, but essential treaty, the Jay Treaty, addressing unresolved issues with Great Britain in the years after the Revolutionary War. With the change in presidential administrations and the recent transfer to the federal government, the fort was renamed Fort Columbus for Christopher Columbus, a name it retained until 1904.