[1][3] In early 1776, the colony of Connecticut commissioned the construction of a fort on a point of rock that stretched out into the harbor to protect the port of New Haven from the British.

Unfortunately for the colonists, in 1779 British General William Tryon, during his raid of Connecticut coastal communities, captured Black Rock Fort along with its nineteen defenders, but only after they had run out of ammunition.

[2] In the Spanish–American War of 1898, an "emergency" battery of six 10-inch Rodman guns was built, as the Spanish fleet potentially threatened the east coast.

Brought back to life in time for the nation's bicentennial, Fort Nathan Hale was rededicated on July 5, 1976.

The statue depicts a young Hale, hands bound behind his back, just before being executed by British forces for espionage.