One of the military sites that is actually not even standing for you to visit in its former glory. Instead it is now the site of the Custom House, or the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House if we’re being professional.
Fort Amsterdam was built in 1626, and is considered the founding of NYC. It was created in order to protect “the fledgling trading post” of New Amsterdam. In 1683, New York had its first legislature meeting here.
The fort changed hands multiple times, and was even renamed for some of those changes. One name change was to Fort George during the Revolutionary War.
Now, the ruins are part of NYC Financial District and is riddled with ghost stories galore both from the fort and from the area around it. For starters, there was a massacre of the Algonquin tribe. After refusing to pay their taxes that were forced on them, William Kieft, decided to murder every Native American he could. This was just one of the many attacks on the Algonquin that Kieft initiated. Accounts of Native American women still roaming the area have been documented over the years.
There is also the famous Fraunces Tavern, where George Washington and others would meet during the Revolution to discuss their comings and goings. Before all that, in 1712 there was reports of a murder/suicide. According to Andrea Janes of Burroughs of the Dead, reports of the paranormal range from people feeling as though they were being pushed, to bartenders and other staff quitting midshift out of being spooked by something unseen.
