During the American Revolutionary War, the borough was a stronghold of the loyalist movement, welcoming General William Howe’s occupying army in August 1776. At the summit of Fort Hill, Prussian general Wilhelm von Knyphausen (1716–1800) founded an earthen redoubt (along with the King's Orange Rangers). In honor of its commander, the structure carried the name Fort Knyphausen for the duration of the Revolutionary War.
