‘Trying To Put A Bookend On The Story’: TOBAY Unveils Sign Commemorating Fort Massapeag

MASSAPEQUA, NY — The Town of Oyster Bay got the chance to add a new page to its history books this week, as town officials unveiled a new sign commemorating Fort Massapeag, a former Algonquian fort that has been a destination for amateur archaeologists and history buffs for almost 100 years.

Among those history buffs is John DiMarco, a St. John’s University professor who wrote the book on the historic fort. DiMarco created a website and new QR code for the sign, giving visitors the chance to learn more about the site’s lengthy history. He also donated a sign depicting the QR code, Town officials said.

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DiMarco said Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino has been a longtime supporter of his efforts to document the fort’s history. In a 2025 grant funding cycle, he applied for a grant from the New York Architectural league that would have helped fund the historical education effort. While the grant wound up going unfunded, DiMarco said the education has gone on regardless.

The end result of that education, DiMarco said, fills an important gap in knowledge of Massapequa’s history.

“It was a place of mystery; we don’t know what we don’t know, so the opportunity for the residents to learn about that place in a deeper way, I believe, is important,” DiMarco said. “Not only for maintaining our history, but moving forward, and understanding how important history is to the whole community as well as the ‘lore’ of Massapequa. The opportunity to be a part of community education is critical.”

DiMarco said he has gotten positive feedback from residents in Massapequa already, a piece of validation of the hard work he did to write the book. Sharing what he learned with those who now give him feedback, he said, was a central part of his mission in writing the book.

“I went through a great learning journey, as I figured out that place, and I wanted to share the fruits of that labor with the community in a way that could be meaningful and also accessible,” DiMarco said. “The existing sign that was there says ‘Indian Fort, Est. 1640.’ The fort was actually built in the 1650s, and there was no recognition at that spot that it was a national historic landmark.”

The Town has owned the site since 1958, and bought it with an agreement to preserve the property. For its supervisor, the new signage is an opportunity to make that preservation more accessible to the people who may not know what happened here. Among other things included in the new signage is the exact verbiage DiMarco mentioned, which indicates that the site is an historic landmark.

“With just one click, we can all go back to the 1600s and even earlier to learn how those who came before us utilized this land,” Saladino said. “Although this area has certainly changed, this site continues to connect us to an era long gone that played an integral role in Massapequa’s story.”

In a January interview with Patch, DiMarco said he was trying to tell the “history of the history” of Fort Massapeag, chronicling not only what historians believe happened there, but the efforts of local historians and archaeologists to prove it. With the new sign commemorating a local legend in his hometown, the author and professor said a new chapter can be added to that history.

“I’m trying to put the bookend on the other end of the story. It started with William Claude finding indigenous remains. That was in the 1930s; now, approaching the 2030s, we are finally getting the full educational due for that spot.”