Blockhouse No. 1
Blockhouse No. 1 is a historic site in New York, at a modelled elevation of 31 m. High Mountain stands 268 m to the northwest, 17 miles off. The nearest named place is Electric Ladybug Garden, a garden 0.2 miles away. Palisades Scenic Byway passes 3.8 miles off.
The story
Blockhouse No. 1, colloquially known as The Blockhouse, is a small fort in the North Woods section of Central Park, Manhattan, New York City. Finished in 1814, the Blockhouse is the second-oldest structure in the park, after Cleopatra's Needle, and the oldest surviving structure originally built within the park site. It is located on an overlook of Manhattan schist, with a clear view of the flat surrounding areas north of Central Park. The fort was part of a series of fortifications in northern Manhattan, which originally also included three fortifications in Harlem Heights (now Morningside Heights). It was accompanied by Blockhouses No. 2, 3, and 4 in Morningside Park. The fort is the last remaining fortification from these defenses. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the designers of Central Park, treated Blockhouse No. 1 as a picturesque ruin, romantically overrun with vines and Alpine shrubbery.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dates from 1812.
Wikidata Q4927275, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Built
- 1814
What to expect
How to reach it
- 3.8 mi off the Palisades Scenic Byway, National
- 4.7 mi off the Bronx River Parkway
- 22.0 mi off the Merritt Parkway, National
Named places within 25 miles
- Electric Ladybug Garden: 0.2 mi
- Mobilization for Change Community Garden: 0.3 mi
- La Perla Garden: 0.4 mi
- North Garden (French): 0.4 mi
- Center Garden (Italian): 0.4 mi
- Frederick Douglass Circle: 0.2 mi
- West 104th Street Garden: 0.3 mi
- Martin Luther King Playground: 0.3 mi
- Samuel Marx Triangle: 0.3 mi
- Lafayette Square: 0.4 mi
- Huddlestone Arch: 0.2 mi
- Glen Span Arch: 0.3 mi
- Taste Harlem Tour: 0.9 mi
- Abyssinian Baptist Church: 1.5 mi
- Original brown stone houses: 1.7 mi
- Lafayette and Washington: 0.4 mi
- Three Dancing Maidens – Untermyer Fountain: 0.4 mi
- Alfred Lincoln Seligman Fountain: 0.4 mi
- Seven Generations: 0.4 mi
- Pulpit: 0.5 mi
- The Africa Center: 0.4 mi
- El Museo Del Barrio: 0.5 mi
- Museum of the City of New York: 0.5 mi
- Nicholas Roerich Museum: 0.7 mi
- The Studio Museum In Harlem: 0.8 mi
- Hallet’s Cove: 2.3 mi
- Hazard Beach: 3.8 mi
- Maxwell Place Beach: 5.0 mi
- Gansevoort Peninsula Sand Bluff: 5.0 mi
- Dyckman Street Beach: 5.1 mi
- Hallett Nature Sanctuary: 2.4 mi
- Cabrini Woods Nature Sanctuary: 4.2 mi
- Hackensack Meadowlands Conservation and Wildlife Area: 4.5 mi
- WNYC Transmitter Park: 4.8 mi
- Pugsley Creek Park: 5.5 mi
- Great Hill: 0.2 mi
- Mount Morris: 0.8 mi
- Summit Rock: 1.3 mi
- Vista Rock: 1.5 mi
- Janes Hill: 2.5 mi
- Frederick Douglass Memorial: 0.2 mi
- Farmers Gate: 0.2 mi
- Nutter's Battery: 0.2 mi
- Fort Clinton: 0.3 mi
- Duke Ellington Memorial: 0.4 mi
- Picnic Area on Marcus Garvey Pool Deck: 0.8 mi
- Street Seats: 3.4 mi
- The Backyard: 6.2 mi
- Pier 3 Greenway Terrace: 7.3 mi
- Pier 5 Uplands Seating Area: 7.5 mi
- Palisades: 1.9 mi
- Coogan's Bluff: 2.5 mi
- The Palisades: 10.6 mi
- Big Ma Maginot Drop: 13.9 mi
- Sir Maginot Drop: 13.9 mi
- The Loch: 0.3 mi
- Ambergill Falls: 9.3 mi
- Binnen Falls: 9.5 mi
- Fallkill Falls: 9.5 mi
- Great Falls: 14.3 mi
- LeFrak Point Lighthouse: 6.3 mi
- Execution Rocks Light: 12.7 mi
- Sands Point Lighthouse: 12.7 mi
- Sandy Hook Lighthouse: 23.4 mi
- Lighthouse Keeper's Quarters: 23.4 mi
- Vince Lombardi Service Area: 4.2 mi
- Larry Doby Service Area: 12.0 mi
- Thomas Edison Service Area: 23.1 mi
- Grover Cleveland Service Area: 23.2 mi
- Feltville Historic District: 24.0 mi
- Barber: 24.4 mi
- Tulip Springs: 17.8 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 21.7 miles of Blockhouse No. 1. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Mountain | NW 313° | 268 m | 17.3 mi |
| Beech Mountain | NW 313° | 260 m | 18.5 mi |
| Mount Cecchino | NW 312° | 230 m | 17.1 mi |
| Mount Nebo | N 5° | 208 m | 17.4 mi |
| Poacher Peak | NW 311° | 185 m | 18.9 mi |
| Moon Hill | NW 311° | 180 m | 18.6 mi |
| Stony Hill | W 274° | 179 m | 15.0 mi |
| Mayapple Hill | W 264° | 175 m | 17.5 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:00 | 18:32 | 19:08 |
| June solstice | 05:25 | 19:50 | 20:31 |
| September equinox | 06:44 | 18:19 | 18:55 |
| December solstice | 07:17 | 15:48 | 16:32 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 34 | 36 | 43 | 54 | 63 | 72 | 78 | 76 | 69 | 58 | 48 | 39 |
| Precip in | 3.6 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 4.4 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — NY City Cntrl Park, 2 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOfficial siteOpenStreetMap element way/39243913
Day trips start here
- Manhattan/Central Park · 1 mi
- Manhattan/Harlem and Upper Manhattan · 1 mi
- Manhattan/Upper West Side · 1 mi
- Manhattan · 2 mi
- Manhattan/Upper East Side · 2 mi
- Manhattan/Theater District · 3 mi
Take the scenic way to Blockhouse No. 1.
Byway plans around your taste, mapped places, real weather and opening hours — then opens every leg in Google Maps with one tap.