Fort Nathan Hale

Local ghost tellings describe glowing green orbs inside the gated bunkers at Fort Nathan Hale and figures of soldiers along the beach and fort walls, and a ghost-story book on New Haven County lists unexplained voices at the fort; none of these accounts is documented in detail. The 20-acre city park holds the remains of three forts on the same point overlooking New Haven Harbor: a 1659 colonial fort, a Revolutionary War fort captured by British General William Tryon in 1779 after its nineteen defenders ran out of ammunition, and a larger Civil War-era fort built alongside it in 1863 over fears of Confederate naval raids. Both forts have been reconstructed, including a restored drawbridge, moat, ramparts, and bombproof bunkers.