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Sterling, Fort

Description: Fort Sterling: March 1776, Kings County, Brooklyn. The first American fort built in Brooklyn, it was located on a bluff at the very edge of the Brooklyn Heights. The site today is Columbia Steet between Clark and Orange Streets. Also known as Fort Half-Moon because of its open back. The fort was designed to command the East River. Taken by the British in August 1776 it was continuously garrisoned until their evacuation in 1783. This site was not used again. Another fort referred to as a grand citadel to be called The Congress was to have been constructed to the rear on higher ground at Henry and Pierrepoint Streets but was not started, but was where the British later built Fort Brooklyn.
County: Kings County
City, State: Brooklyn, New York