Fort

Middletown, fort

In early 1664, director general and council resolved to send a scouting party to the banks of the Navesink River, just south of Sandy Hook, in order to choose a proper place for a redoubt or blockhouse (een reduijt or houten wambuijs). Their action was a response to rumours that English settlers from Gravesend were about to purchase land there, even though it had already been bought a month earlier by representatives of the Dutch colonial government. Director general and council intended to place a small garrison at Navesink as well. Considering the developments in New Netherland later in 1664, it is unlikely that these plans ever came to fruition.

Sources and literature

Jacobs, J., Dutch Colonial Fortifications in North America 1614-1676 (2015)