7. Fort Tilden’s Namesake, Samuel J. Tilden, Donated Most of His Fortune
Fort Tilden’s namesake was Samuel J. Tilden, the former 25th governor of New York. Tilden lived in a mansion on Gramercy Park, now home to the National Arts Club. At the end of his life, Tilden had amassed a fortune of about $7 million, which is estimated to be about $176 million in 2014 dollars. He set aside $4 million for the building and maintenance of a free public library in New York City. The amount of money set aside for the library was later contested by his living relatives, and it became $3 million. In 1895, the money Tilden put aside was combined with the Astor and Lennox libraries, and the New York Public Library was born.