The Blockhouse

Blockhouse No. 1, colloquially known as The Blockhouse, is a small fort in the North Woods section of Central Park, Manhattan, New York City. Finished in 1814, the Blockhouse is the second oldest structure in the park, after Cleopatra's Needle, and the oldest surviving structure originally built within the park site. It is located on an overlook of Manhattan schist, with a clear view of the flat surrounding areas north of Central Park.

The fort was part of a series of fortifications in northern Manhattan, which originally also included three fortifications in Harlem Heights. It was accompanied by Blockhouses No. 2, 3, and 4 in Morningside Park. The fort is the last remaining fortification from these defenses. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the designers of Central Park, treated Blockhouse No. 1 as a picturesque ruin, romantically overrun with vines and Alpine shrubbery.