America turns 250 years old on Saturday, July 4, 2026, as measured by the adopting of the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia.
Our nation and its 50 states and thousands of cities, towns and villages have made quite a journey in the two-and-one-half centuries since. To mark this historic occasion, The Journal News and USA TODAY Network-New York are revisiting New York’s state vital role and remarkable history during the War of Independence.
From the British invasion of New York City in 1776 to the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 to the Sullivan-Clinton campaign in 1779 to Gen. George Washington making his headquarters in the Hudson Valley at the American Revolution’s end, New York state was an epicenter of the history-making war that created our nation.
As America turns 250 years old and Americans discuss and debate the country’s history and heritage, its strengths and its challenges, here are some of the people and places in New York related to our country’s origins before and during the American Revolution.
History in the Hudson Valley
Bannerman Castle, Pollepel Island. There’s much history surrounding this island in the middle of the Hudson River, including a connection to the American Revolution. In 1777, to defend the Hudson Highlands against the British, men were commandeered from the local prison to build “chevaux de frise,” or metal-tipped, pointed log devices sunk into the river in wooden cribs to obstruct the passage of ships and damage hulls. Those efforts were unsuccessful, as the British took flat-bottomed ships to avoid the underwater instruments of war. Today, visitors can find one of the points on display at Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh. In the 250 years since the Revolution, there have only been five owners of the island, including William Van Wyck of Fishkill. – Nickie Hayes
Benedict Arnold. Benedict Arnold’s name remains a synonym for betrayal nearly 250 years after the former general’s most notorious deed. Arnold, commander of West Point, turned over plans of the strategic garrison to British Maj. John André. The British could then capture it and Gen. Washington, who was due to visit. Arnold and André met near Haverstraw Bay on Sept. 21, 1780; André concealed the documents in his boot. André missed meeting up with his ship and had to journey by land toward another embarkation point. In Tarrytown, he mistook American militiamen for British loyalists and was caught. Arnold was able to flee before anyone realized he was the turncoat. André was put on trial in Tappan and hanged. – Nancy Cutler
The Great Chain, West Point to Constitution Island. The Great Chain was stretched across the Hudson River from West Point to Constitution Island in 1778 in order to stop invading British ships. The 1,500-foot chain was placed at a point in the river where an S-curve forced ships to slow down to maneuver through the area. Two cannons were also placed on shore to fire on any approaching ships. A successful invasion in New York would have allowed the British to separate the American colonies into two disconnected regions. With anchors and attachments, the chain weighed an estimated 75-80 tons. Thirteen of the chain’s original links survive today at West Point, and a few more links are on Constitution Island, along with a historic marker. No British ship ever tested the chain. – Mike Randall
Van Wyck Homestead Museum, Fishkill. This Colonial-era home built by Cornelius and Hanna Van Wyck in 1732 was later used during the Revolutionary War by the Continental Army as the Officers’ Headquarters for the Fishkill Supply Depot – a strategic center of the American Revolution established by Gen. George Washington in October 1776. According to the museum website, the supply depot served as a hub for storing and distributing supplies until the end of the Revolution in November 1783, employing hundreds of workers to keep the army stocked. More than 2,000 Continental Army soldiers were trained in Fishkill, and in the barracks of the supply depot encampment, another 2,000 soldiers, craftspeople and supporters were housed year-round. In 1962, locals founded the Fishkill Historical Society to preserve Fishkill’s history and the Van Wyck Homestead. – Nickie Hayes
Patriots Park, Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow. A four-acre park straddling two Westchester County villages marks the spot where three young militiamen foiled a British plot in 1780 that could have been disastrous for the patriots’ cause. They stopped and captured British spy John Andre after his secret meeting with American traitor Benedict Arnold to negotiate the surrender of West Point – a critical stronghold to control passage of the Hudson River. The Captors’ Monument, a memorial built in 1853 and modified in 1880 in what became Patriots Park, celebrates Andre’s capture and features a bronze statue of John Paulding, the militiaman who discerned the plot from Andre’s papers. – Chris McKenna
Hudson Valley history: See photos of Revolutionary War camp recreated at Stony Point Battlefield.
Peekskill Raid. The Continental Army set up headquarters in late 1776 in Peekskill in Westchester County. George Washington came through Peekskill that November. Washington crossed the Hudson River and eventually went into New Jersey. But Peekskill was a supply depot. On March 23, 1777, British ships arrived from the Hudson River and raided it. Gen. Alexander McDougall and his men retreated to a barracks. Support arrived, the British withdrew, and McDougall and troops kept the depot. In April 1777, British troops again sailed to Peekskill, but as a decoy that let other ships land troops to destroy a Connecticut supply depot. – Michael P. McKinney
Sybil Ludington. A statue in Carmel immortalizes Sybil Ludington’s horseback journey one Revolutionary War night. At 16, the daughter of Col. Henry Ludington is said to have ridden 40 miles April 26, 1777, to alert her father’s men that the British attacked a Connecticut supply depot vital to George Washington’s army and local militias. Markers in Putnam proclaim roads Ludington rode over. Some have said there is lack of evidence it ever happened. Vincent Dacquino, of Mahopac, who has authored books about Ludington, said he has no doubt she was a hero who rode and risked her life. – Michael P. McKinney
Retrace Sybil Ludington’s legendary ride with our digital map.
Battle of White Plains. In late summer 1776, Gen. George Washington and his soldiers fled north into Westchester County after defeats in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Washington and the British soon faced off again, at the Battle of White Plains. British artillery bombarded Chatterton Hill in late October 1776. Washington pushed back British attacks, but Hessian soldiers eventually drove through. Washington’s men suffered about 200 casualties. The British won, but Washington got crucial time and space to go farther north. He and his men would eventually cross the Hudson River, and the war would unfold across seven more years. – Michael P. McKinney
The American Revolution in a New York minute: How these two NY state battles proved key to American revolution.
New York City
Governors Island. The island off the southern tip of Manhattan had been set aside for New York’s British governors in colonial days. But it was squarely in American hands in 1776 when British warships headed up the Hudson River and were fired upon by cannons from Governors Island. The fortified island aided the American defense of New York for a short spell before falling to the British for the rest of the war. The 172-acre island served for the next nearly two centuries as an Army post and later a Coast Guard station. Today it’s open to visitors, a short ferry ride away from Manhattan and Brooklyn. – Chris McKenna
Explore amazing locations that helped define American history with USA 250 Most Treasured Views.
Federal Hall. served as the nation’s capital from 1785 to 1790. Federal Hall, at Wall and Broad streets, stands at the site where George Washington took the oath of office on April 30, 1789 as the first U.S. president. It housed the early government’s offices. In 1765, it had hosted a key meeting of Colonial leaders as they united against the Stamp Act, a tax imposed by the British Parliament. (Remember “no taxation without representation” from U.S. history class? That sums up the Stamp Act.) The original structure was demolished in 1812; the current building now houses the Federal National Memorial. – Nancy Cutler
Bowling Green. The oldest public park in New York City, Bowling Green once housed the colonies’ only statue of King George III. In 1770, the statue of the king astride a horse was installed in his honor. As tension in the colonies grew, a fence was put up to protect it in 1771. On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was publicly read at Bowling Green. In a blow to tyranny, crowds tore down the stately statue. The metal was forged into ammunition for the Continental Army. Remnants of the fence still surround Bowling Green near the southern tip of Manhattan. – Nancy Cutler
Trinity Church. Founded in 1697 at Broadway and Wall Street, Trinity was the first Anglican Church in New York. The building burned during the Great Fire of 1776, believed to be set by patriots, then destroyed in an 1839 snowstorm. The current church, built in 1846, is on the National Registry of Historic Places. Trinity became a leader in the Episcopal Church of the United States. Alexander Hamilton, son Phillip and widow Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler Hamilton are buried in the church graveyard. Trinity’s St. Paul’s Chapel, on Broadway and Fulton, sits just steps from Ground Zero. Unscathed on Sept. 11, 2001, the chapel served as a refuge after the terrorist attacks. – Nancy Cutler
Fraunces Tavern. In continuous operation since 1762, Fraunces Tavern still serves a serious chicken pot pie – supposedly George Washington’s favorite. The tavern and inn played a key role during the British occupation of Manhattan during and after the Revolution as a nascent government formed. A gathering there honored Washington on Evacuation Day, Nov. 25, 1783, when the British finally left the island. Washington returned to Fraunces on Dec. 4, 1783, to bid farewell to his troops. The precedent-setting moment established the United States’ tradition of peaceful transition of power. Above the tavern, you can see historic artifacts from the era at the Fraunces Tavern Museum. – Nancy Cutler
See photos inside NYC’s historic Fraunces Tavern, where General Washington bade his officers farewell.Fort Tryon Park, Bennett Park. Fort Tryon Park is a serene oasis in Upper Manhattan with majestic views of the Hudson River and rich displays of flowers and blossoms in spring. But it was a sad scene for Americans 250 years ago, when what was known as Mount Washington hosted part of a devastating battle that gave British full control of Manhattan at the outset of the Revolutionary War. Most of the Battle of Fort Washington in 1776 was fought a half-mile to the south, marked by what is now tiny Bennett Park. A stinging reminder of colonial rule is that Fort Tryon still bears the name of New York’s last British governor. – Chris McKenna
Morris-Jumel Mansion. Manhattan’s oldest surviving home was built in 1765 for British military officer Roger Morris and taken up in 1776 by George Washington, who used it as his Continental Army headquarters for five weeks early in the Revolutionary War. His stay was short because Manhattan soon fell under British control, giving British and Hessian soldiers the run of the stately house in Upper Manhattan until the war ended in 1783. Washington returned in 1790 to dine there with the likes of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. Since 1903, the Morris-Jumel Mansion in the Washington Heights neighborhood has belonged to New York City and served as a museum. – Chris McKenna
Old Stone House, Brooklyn. It was built by a Dutch farmer in 1699 and already pretty old when about 2,000 invading British and Hessian soldiers hunkered down there with artillery in 1776. The Old Stone House, as it is known today, marks a key site in the Revolutionary War’s largest clash. The Battle of Brooklyn was a devastating rout for the Americans, but George Washington escaped with his army intact and American resolve hardened. The house, now a museum in Washington Park in the Park Slope neighborhood, served as a clubhouse for the future Brooklyn Dodgers in the 19th Century before being razed and rebuilt. – Chris McKenna
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Explore New York State’s role as an epicenter of American Revolution
Reporting by Staff reports, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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By Staff reports, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
