Fort Salonga

Fort Salonga, also known as NYSDHP Unique Site No. A103-08-0036, is an archeological site in the vicinity of Fort Salonga, New York that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

It is the site of the Revolutionary War British Fort Salonga, or Fort Slongo, (named after one of the fort’s architects - George Slongo) once located near the border of Huntington Township and The Town of Smithtown, overlooking the Long Island Sound.

In an October 1781 skirmish between the British and Americans at the fort, Elijah Churchill was wounded. He personally received a Badge of Military Merit from George Washington for his actions. The Badge became the Purple Heart and he is credited with being the first the receive the award.

References

Fort Salonga, New York

Fort Salonga is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP population was 10,008. The name evolved from the Revolutionary War British Fort Salonga, or Fort Slongo, (named after one of the fort’s architects) once located near the border of the towns of Huntington and Smithtown, overlooking Long Island Sound.

Fort Salonga is a community at the northeast corner of the town of Huntington and at the northwest boundary of the town of Smithtown.

History

One night during the Revolutionary War, Colonial forces landed on the beach in nearby Crab Meadow, and moving down the beach overtook the fort.

In the post-Civil War era the rich red clay deposits gave birth to a successful brickworks as well as other trade. Barges loaded with manure swept from the streets of New York City would arrive, and farmers from nearby towns would come to get the manure for fertilizer. The emptied barges were then loaded with bricks for the trip back to the city. One of the brick companies to operate there in the late 19th century was owned by the Brown family, whose bricks bore the initials BBB for Brown's Best Bricks. The family home on the top of the hill on Breeze Hill Road has served as the clubhouse for the Indian Hills Country Club since 1963.

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs. The term is derived from the Latin fortis ("strong") and facere ("to make").

From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in an ever changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its 'cyclopean' walls). A Greek Phrourion was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress. These construction mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and lands that might threaten the kingdom. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch and maintain the border.