250 Years Ago Today – Resolution of the Continental Congress

250 years ago, in May of 1775, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia was still over a year away from declaring independence from Britain but the Revolutionary War had already begun.  The battles of Lexington and Concord occurred in April of 1775.  By late May, the British troops were in Boston and basically surrounded by Patriot militiamen outside the city.  So, it might seem a strange time for the Continental Congress to be thinking about the northwest Bronx.  But exactly 250 years ago today, on May 25, 1775, Congress issued the following resolution:

“Resolved, That a Post be immediately taken and fortified at or near King’s Bridge, in the Colony of New-York”

Those words commenced the most dramatic 8-year period in the history of Kingsbridge, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, and northern Manhattan. But why did Congress think that our neighborhood was worth fighting for? And what did it mean for local residents and the Revolutionary cause? That is the story that the Kingsbridge Historical Society will tell in a series of presentations, walking tours, exhibits and performances as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

But the short version is that on May 25, 1775, the Continental Congress was concerned that, after Boston, the British would attack New York City.  And if that were to happen Kingsbridge would be of great importance as it was home to the only bridges to Manhattan island: the King’s Bridge and the Free Bridge.  Congress wanted a fort to be built here to ensure that the British could not easily control access to Manhattan via those bridges.  Over the course of the war that followed, there would be over a dozen forts built here, numerous battles and skirmishes fought here, and the poor inhabitants of Kingsbridge were subject to living in a war zone.

The below map is undated but I can tell it depicts the neighborhood in the years leading up to 1776 (From the William L Clements Library at the University of Michigan):