1656-1664
Fort Massapeag is ordered built by the Dutch

Fort Massapeag: A Dutch Trading Post and Indigenous Request

Established around 1656 on Fort Neck in Massapequa (Oyster Bay), Fort Massapeag was a significant Dutch trading post and the only archaeologically documented Native American fort in Nassau County. Strategically located near the bay, it served as both a defensive outpost for the Dutch West India Company and a vital center for trade with the local Massapeag people. Facing British expansion, the Dutch aimed to maintain peaceful relations and foster commerce.

Historical records and archaeological evidence indicate that the fort's construction was at the request of Sachem Tackapausha to Director Peter Stuyvesant during treaty talks in 1656 and 1660, seeking safety for his people. While the exact location of an earlier, short-lived fort is uncertain, Fort Massapeag played a key role in the complex interactions between the Indigenous People and the Dutch, and then English, who later purchased the land in 1693, but farmed there earlier with permission. The Fort was built with European tools and most likely labor, but was under control of the Algonquian Peoples of Long Island during the 17th century, serving both colonial and Indigenous interests.

Evidence outlined by scholars that the Dutch directed the Fort construction at Massapeag

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July 13, 1696 – Deed to land in Fort Neck signed by Maomy & Will Chippy, Indians & Chief proprietors of ye Indians Lands upon Massipeague or ffort Neck at ye south of Oysterbay" mentions:

"ye olf ffort [at] ...ye Head of ye Meadows on sad Neck"

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November 27, 1655 was cited in a passage from Thomas Floyd-Jones Book on his descendants history regarding Massapequa in 1906, he wrote 

"seven Indians from Long Island, appeared before Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch Governor, representing the Marsepain, or Marsepingh tribes, whose chief was Tachpausaan, alias Meautinnemin, Fort Neck, Queens County, Indians."

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March 12, 1656 – Transcript of Treaty minutes documents acceptance by sachem Tackapousha of Governor Peter Stuyvesant and the Dutch West India company offer to

"the governor doth promise Betwixt this date and six months to build a house or fort upon such place as they [the Indians] shall sow upon the north side" of Long Island

The 1656 treaty also called for a trading post on the site and safety from Native American attacks outlined by Hicks in Jacobs work "Dutch Colonial Fortifications in North America 1614-1676":

"furnished with Indian trade goods or commodities"

"the Sachem doth promise, that in his place such people shall thereon be placed by the Governor shall live in safety from him or any of his Indians"

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May 13, 1656 – A final document, cited by Solecki and Grumet that exists in Brodhead's 1859-1871 two volume book "History of the State of New York" suggests that the fort was ordered built by the Ditch West India company for more defensive purposes, acting as a shelter for local colonists.