Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot and Encampment

Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot was formed to advocate for preserving, studying, and properly interpreting the Fishkill Supply Depot and Encampment. Declared “the last of the important Revolutionary War sites yet to be properly explored,” the Fishkill Supply Depot remains so today: a one-of-a-kind site of national importance that has never gotten its due.

Situated in Fishkill, New York, the Fishkill Supply Depot was a pivotal strategic hub of the American Revolution, established and frequented by George Washington himself. Referred to as the ‘Military nerve center of the Continental army,’ the Depot was one of three major encampments, alongside Morristown and Valley Forge. This site bore witness to significant history-it was here that hundreds of the original soldiers, who fought for the birth of the nation, perished and were laid to rest in unmarked graves.

The Fishkill Supply Depot site has been listed for decades in the National Register of Historic Places and consists of more than 70 acres on the East and West sides of southern Route 9. Over two centuries ago, thousands of Continental Army soldiers weathered the winters of 1776 to 1783 and blocked the British strategy of advancing unopposed up both sides of the Hudson to secure a line of communication from New York City to Canada. If the patriot forces had failed in this effort, it could have spelled defeat for the patriots and assured the ultimate victory of the Royalist cause in North America.

Underscoring its significance, the Fishkill Supply Depot and Encampment was added to the National Register for Historic Places in 1974. However, plans to transform the Depot into a national park and subject it to thorough archaeological investigation were thwarted. Now, the land that once housed the encampment and supply depot, which has never been properly evaluated by military archaeology experts, is facing a renewed threat from commercial development. This poses a serious risk to the remaining archaeological and historical evidence, robbing future generations of a direct connection to a remarkable past.