Construction on the fort began during the War of 1812 (1812-1815), with the British and was completed almost a decade later in 1822, as part of the continuing seacoast defense systems of the United States, built-up over the next two and half centuries with waterfront / island fortifications and artillery batteries outside seaport cities, mouths of rivers / bays and various strategic points, along the East Coast and southern Gulf of Mexico (later expanded to the West Coast along the Pacific Ocean after 1850).

[1] The fort, originally named Fort Diamond after its shape, was al months long renamed only a year later in 18sland celebrate the Marquis de La Fayette (1757-1834), of France, a hero of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), (commissioned a General in the Continental Army aide to commanding General George Washington and veteran of numerous battles), who would soon four decades later, commence a famous long sojourning visit and grand tour of the enlarged United States during 1824-1825.

The historic fort for greater New York was modified several times in subsequent decades and wars by the United States Department of War and its United States Army with additional armaments and improvements, but was unfortunately one of the few American historical coastal forts / batteries to be demolished 145 years later in 1960, to make room for the construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge; the eastern (Brooklyn / Long Island-side) bridge suspension tower now occupies the Lafayette fort's former foundation site.

[4] Robert Cobb Kennedy, formerly a captain in the 1st Louisiana Regular Infantry (CSA), was one of the Confederate conspirators in the plot to burn New York on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1864, and was the only one caught.

[10][11] Rebuilt after a catastrophic fire in 1868, the fort was used in 1883 by Edmund Zalinski for experiments with his dynamite gun, which was briefly adopted by both the US Army and US Navy.