Fort Totten's Fall Calendar Runs on a Fortress the Army Never Finished

Work started on the Fort Totten Battery in 1862. It was meant to be a shore battery across the water from Fort Schuyler, where the East River meets Long Island Sound. By 1864 the Army had dropped the original multi-tier plan. According to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission's designation report, ironclad ships, rifled artillery and other wartime advances had made the design obsolete. The revised plan became the two-tier battery that still stands. The unfinished parts are still there to see: granite walls and embrasures, a partly completed upper tier, support piers that were never finished, and bluestone paving with grass growing between the stones.

Between now and early November, that half-built fort and the 1887 Officers' Club up the hill anchor one of the busiest stretches on the peninsula's calendar. Two groups run almost all of it: NYC Parks' Urban Park Rangers and the Bayside Historical Society. Nearly every program is about the base itself, and they run on four straight weekends.

The Battery Gets Two Days of Ranger Tours

The fortress is the stop rangers lead the most during Open House New York weekend. NYC Parks lists a ranger-guided battery tour on Saturday, October 17 and again on Sunday, October 18. Both run from 1 to 3 p.m. and start at the Fort Totten Park Visitors Center. Both are free, and Parks sends people to OHNY to register.

Earlier on Saturday, a separate free ranger tour of the peninsula's historic buildings runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and meets at the Fort Totten Front Gate. The NYC Parks event listing describes the site as a military base for more than 100 years and covers its role in the city's defense "from the Civil War to today." On October 17 you can do the morning walk, get lunch, and be at the Visitors Center for the battery at 1 p.m.

Outside these special dates, NYC Parks says rangers lead fortress tours on a regular basis. The Visitors Center at 212th Street and Bell Boulevard is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon and again from 1 to 3 p.m.

The Castle Covers Everything After the Civil War

The battery tells the story of the 1860s. The Castle at 208 Totten Avenue picks up from there. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built it in 1887 as its Officers' Mess Hall and Club. The Bayside Historical Society has been based there since 1984. It is a New York City landmark, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Society calls it one of the finest surviving examples of Gothic Revival castellated architecture in the city.

On Sunday, October 18, the Society gives free guided Castle tours from noon to 4 p.m. as part of OHNY weekend. Staff will talk about the building and the history of the land back to 1639. Light refreshments are provided, and the Society asks visitors to RSVP. That morning, the BHS Vintage Car Show fills the Castle lawn from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is free for visitors and presented with the Long Island Sound Region of the Classic Car Club of America. The car show and the Castle tours overlap for an hour, so one trip up Totten Avenue covers both.

The tours also take in the Society's newest exhibition, Home Front & Front Lines: 250 Years of American Service. It runs along the first-floor hallway and tells the stories of northeast Queens residents and their service, sacrifice and civic engagement from 1657 to today. The span takes in religious liberty, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and both World Wars. The exhibit opened to visitors on June 25, 2026, and was celebrated at a Society event on July 15. If OHNY weekend is too crowded, the exhibit page lists weekday viewing hours of noon to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, from September 1 to November 20, 2026.

The Castle's fall season started before October. The Society's Oktoberfest came back on September 20 after more than ten years away. A rainy forecast moved it indoors, and admission was free.

The Full Run, Weekend by Weekend

October 25 Takes the History Out to the Water

The Totten Trot turns 25 this year. The Society says it started as a gathering of 12 runners at Fort Totten Park and now draws more than 300, along with their families and teams. The course runs past the same history the OHNY tours cover. It starts and finishes at the landmarked Officers' Club and passes through the Historic District, where buildings date to the late 1800s. It then loops out onto Little Bay Path toward the Throgs Neck Bridge and comes back to the fort. The course is USATF certified, and the race goes ahead rain or shine.

The race has a Halloween theme, and the Society encourages costumes for adults and kids. Costumed characters from the 501st Legion's Empire City Garrison are part of the 2026 lineup. The Kids' Fun Run starts at 10 a.m. for children up to age 12, grouped by age. Families sign up on race day with a suggested $5 donation, and the Society's race page promises "Cookie Medals" for Fun Run participants. Adult entry has gone up in steps. It rose to $38.98 on October 11 and will be $44.15 on race day, with processing fees included.

The same evening, the Urban Park Rangers lead Nocturnal Seining and Shore Exploration from 7 to 8:30 p.m., starting at the front gate. Seining means pulling a net through the shallows to catch fish. The program is free, recommended for ages 8 and up, and needs no registration. It is the one program on the calendar about the water instead of the base. It also covers the same stretch of shoreline the battery was built to defend.

November Brings Back the Era the Battery Was Built For

On Sunday, November 1, Civil War Living History runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Castle grounds. Company K of the 67th New York Infantry will show what daily life was like for Union soldiers. It is free, and NYC Parks lists no rain date, so a washout means no makeup day. The reenactors portray the same war that saw the battery started and then scaled back.

A week later, on November 8, the Society's Second Sunday Castle Tours offer two free tours, at 1 and 2 p.m. Reservations are required. This is the smaller, quieter way to see the Castle and the exhibit after the October crowds are gone.

Getting Onto the Peninsula

Fort Totten Park covers 60.39 acres. Parts of the peninsula are still a working government site. The FDNY's EMS Academy, called "The Fort," is located there, and NYC Parks' history of the site names other agencies with ties to the former base. Parks notes that its public map is not a legal boundary map. Stick to signed park routes, and stay out of any area marked as agency property.

• Entrance: NYC Parks puts the front gate at Totten Road and the Cross Island Parkway. The Historical Society describes the entrance as Bell Boulevard and 212th Street.
• Parking: The Society says free parking is available in the Little Bay Park lot just outside the entrance. A few closer spaces are available if you tell the front-gate attendant you are visiting the Historical Society.
• Bus: The Q13 and Q16 both serve Fort Totten. The Visitors Center directions describe taking the Q16 from Flushing.
• LIRR: The Society tells rail riders to get off at Bayside and continue by taxi, rideshare or the Q13.
• Hours: NYC Parks says park hours vary and advises checking the signs at the entrance.

On OHNY weekend and Trot morning, the Little Bay Park lot and the Q13 will be serving the same crowd. Leaving extra time at the gate is the easiest way to make a 1 p.m. battery start.

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