PARANORMAL PUB - FORT GOLGOTHA

ROBERT T. ROTHSCHILD JR.

FORT GOLGOTHA: 226 Main Street in Huntington NY, stands the Soldier & Sailor Memorial. Right behind the building stands the oldest public cemetery in Huntington, known by several names including Ancient Burying Ground, Old Burial Hill and Old Burial Ground. The oldest headstone currently there dates to 1712; however, the cemetery was there as early as the founding of Huntington in 1653. From September 1776 until March 1783, Huntington endured 6 1/2 years of occupation by British troops. The Old Burying Ground was used to house Fort Golgotha, built by timbers used by the dismantling of Huntington's First Presbyterian Church. British Colonel Benjamin Thompson, a.k.a Count Rumford, ordered the Church to be torn down on 11/26/1782. The timbers were reused to build his fort...Fort Golgotha. The labor was completed by American patriots forced into servitude by Count Rumford.

Over 100 tombstones were removed and the burial ground was leveled to make way for the newly constructed fort. The tombstones were used as ovens and flooring inside the fort. The ovens baked bread and the bread was sold to the locals, with the reversed names of their loved ones baked into the crust. It took all of 15 days to build the fort. The old First Church's 3rd minister, Rev. Ebenezer Prime, who faithfully served the Church from 1723-1779, was buried in the original Church cemetery. When Col. Benjamin Thompson built the fort, he made the exit right in front of Rev. Prime's grave, thus allowing him to step on the old rebels grave. In March of 1783, just 4 months after dismantling of the old First Church and the construction of Fort Golgotha, the British troops evacuated Huntington. When the Colonel was leaving Huntington, he burned all the wood in the town so the locals would have no fuel source for the rest of the winter. The locals tore down the hated Fort Golgotha in 1784 and the old First Church was reconstructed on the site, where it still stands today.

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