Fort Wadsworth is a former US Army base on Staten Island in New York City, situated on the Narrows dividing New York Bay into Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay. Dutch settler David Pieterszen de Vries built a blockhouse on the land in 1655, and another blockhouse was built in 1663, surviving until 1808. The fort was renamed Flagstaff Fort during the American Revolutionary War, and the British occupied it from 1776 to 1783. In 1806, New York State built four forts on the site, including Forts Richmond and Tompkins and Forts Morton and Hudson. During the War of 1812, the fort was expanded, and 900 cannons were amassed in the area in 1815 to protect New York City from attack. In 1847, total reconstructions of Forts Richmond and Tompkins began, and Robert E. Lee designed the new forts during the 1840s. During the American Civil War, the forts served as mobilization centers. In 1885, Secretary of War William C. Endicott oversaw sweeping improvements to coastal defenses, creating the Artillery District of New York and renaming the entire fort area as Fort Wadsworth. Fort WRichmond was renamed to Battery Weed, and additional batteries were added as late as 1903. An underwater minefield was also built. During World War I, some batteries were directed to be ready to fire round the clock. By 1924, Fort Wadsworth became an infantry post as coastal artillery pieces were withdrawn from service. The fort was barely upgraded during World War II, and it served as an anti-aircraft artillery brigade headquarters from 1948 to 1960, as a Nike missile headquarters from 1952 to 1955, and as a US Navy base from 1979 to 1995. The fort was transformed into a part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, although some of its buildings remain in government usage.