18,000 BC
(approx.) Last ice advance (Wisconsinian) begins retreat in Long Island
area. As it recedes, it pauses, leaving behind piles of glacial debris.
Fishers Island is formed.
1614
Dutch explorer Captain Adrian Block discovers Fishers Island.
1640
John Winthrop the Younger successfully appeals to the General Court of Massachusetts
for grant to Fishers Island.
1644
To further confirm land grant, John Winthrop purchases Fishers Island from
Native Americans. First settlement is established.
1704
Signal beacon erected on Mount Prospect.
1775-79
British fleet repeatedly raids Fishers Island, seizing sheep, cattle, hogs
and other provisions. In most instances, compensation is made.
1779
July 5 British plunder Fishers Island and Plum Island, seizing livestock
and torching hay and buildings. No compensation made.
1781
September 6 British force invades New London, burning large sections of
the city. Defenders of Fort Griswold, Groton, slaughtered after surrendering.
Nathaniel Shaw, New London's greatest patriot, misses the battle while fishing
on Fishers Island.
1863
Winthrop heirs sell Fishers Island to George Chester for $55,000; title
transferred to Robert R. Fox.
1871
Government acquires "10 and three-tenths acres, more or less,"
at Race Point.
1885
US Army leases land on the western tip of Fishers Island. Rifle squads from
Fort Trumbull, New London arrive for military training.
March 3 President Cleveland appoints "Board on Fortifications or Other
Defenses," commonly known as the Endicott Board.
1886
January 26 The Endicott Board releases its report, detailing program for
new seacoast defenses.
1888
July-Sept. Troops arrive for training exercises. Tourists flock to Fishers
Island to watch the military spectacle. Mock invasion by the Navy is canceled
at the last moment.
1889
Edmund M. and Walton Ferguson purchase almost all of Fishers Island for
$250,000.
1891
November 14 Harper's Weekly publishes article proposing a chain of island
forts across the outer entrance to Long Island Sound.
1896
July 17 Captain Smith S. Leach, Corps of Engineers, is ordered to prepare
plans for the defense of the eastern entrance to
Long Island Sound and to secure land for fortifications.
1897
July 17-24 Naval Battalion, Connecticut National Guard, encamps on Fishers
Island for tour of duty aboard the USS Maine.
August 24 Condemnation hearings begin in Brooklyn, NY, to determine price
for fort site on Fishers Island.
1898
February 15 USS Maine blows up in Havana Harbor.
April 25 Congress declares nation has been at war with Spain since April
21.
April-May Major Leach implements emergency defense plan for Long Island
Sound.
June 24 Condemnation Board awards Edmund M. and Walton Ferguson a total
of $167,000 for 215 acres of condemned land on the western tip of Fishers
Island. Theodora Gordon receives $6,000 for "1 acre plus house."
September 5 Military in full possession of land for fortification purposes
on Fishers Island.
December Construction of gun emplacements begins.
1899
February Silver Eel Pond dredged open, creating cove for military dock.
1900
April 4 Post named in honor of Major General Horatio G. Wright, Civil War
commander and former Chief of Engineers.
1901
February First troops arrive at Fort H.G. Wright.
March 7 Artillery Corps takes over first completed batteries for 6-inch,
10-inch, and 12-inch disappearing guns.
October 31 Dynamite gun successfully test-fired at Race Point.
1902
September 1-5 Joint Army-Navy maneuvers pit the island forts against the
North Atlantic Squadron. Fort H.G. Wright 'sinks' squadron.
1908-09
Government acquires additional land, including west side of Hay Harbor peninsula,
tract on Mount Prospect and right-of-way across golf course.
1910
January 1 Sixty-seven members of 131st Co., Coast Artillery, placed under
arrest for refusing orders to take 15-mile march around the Island.
July 30 Militiamen battle regulars at Fort Wright after being called "tin soldiers."
1911
New hospital is built overlooking Silver Eel Cove.
1917
April 6 US declares war on Germany.
Fort H.G. Wright becomes the Headquarters of the Coast Defenses of Long Island Sound (CDLIS).
December 20 56th Regiment, Coast Artillery Corps (CAC), is formed from within the CDLIS.
1918
March 28 56th Regiment leaves Fort H.G. Wright for service overseas, participates
in the Oisne-Aisne and Meuse-Argonne offensives.
April 6 Government purchases 18.37 acre tract on North Hill.
June 1 68th Regiment, CAC, is formed from within the CDLIS. The 68th leaves Fort H.G. Wright on August 7, for service in France. The regiment arrives too late to engage in active combat.
1920
(Circa) Hangar is constructed for observation balloons.
1921
Sub-aqueous sound ranging experiments begin at Fort H.G. Wright.
1924
Fort H.G. Wright becomes the Headquarters for the 11th Coast Artillery Regiment.
1925
The term "coast defenses" is replaced by "harbor defenses",
as it more accurately describes the primary function of the Coast Artillery
Corps.
Fort H.G. Wright becomes the Headquarters of the Harbor Defenses of the Long Island Sound.
1931
June 11 Elizabeth Field is dedicated, named in honor of Elizabeth Nugent,
daughter of Col. George A. Nugent, Commander of Fort H.G. Wright.
1932
Fort theater opens.
1938
September 21 Hurricane hits Fishers Island.
1940
Harbor Defense Modernization Program proposes long-range armament for the
defense of the Sound.
Reported capacity at Fort H.G. Wright: 30 officers, 30 NCOs, 703 enlisted men, 23 animals, and 32 hospital beds.
August 27 National Guard mobilized.
September 16 242nd Coast Artillery of the Connecticut National Guard assigned to the Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound.
1941
December 7 Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound placed on full alert.
1942
Fort H.G. Wright becomes major center for processing Coast Artillery troops
for domestic and overseas service.
April 6 Government leases Hill 90, at the east end of Fishers Island, also known as Hill Watch, for fire-control stations and fire-control radar.
1943
Government purchases 94.42 acres at Wilderness Point for modern batteries.
Overall size of military reservation approximately 419 acres.
February 15 Construction begins for two 16-inch gun emplacements on Wilderness Point.
June 28 Womens Auxiliary Army Corps (WAC) activated and assigned to Fort H.G. Wright.
1944
March 3 US Navy Lighter-Than-Air Detachment ONE-ONE, arrives at Elizabeth
Field.
March 12 11th Coast Artillery Regiment departs for Fort Leonard Wood, MO. 242nd Coast Artillery assumes control of the Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound.
May 23 16-inch gun emplacements at Wilderness Point completed. Guns never mounted due to diminished threat to the region.
September 242nd Coast Artillery Regiment inactivated, personnel reassigned.
1945
July 16 Alamogordo, NM. Nuclear Age begins.
1949
May 31 Fort H.G. Wright placed in an inactive status, pending further study
for other possible uses.
1950
Government screens Fort H.G. Wright and decides "there is no further
need for the property."
June 30 Coast Artillery is abolished. Jet aircraft, long-range missiles and nuclear weapons render harbor defense by seacoast artillery obsolete.
1958
August 15 Race Point Corporation buys fifty-six acre tract of Fort H.G.
Wright by auction for $350,000.