Castle Island

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Fort Independence on Castle Island

1888 map of Boston Harbor showing Castle Island as an island.

Another view of Castle Island.

Castle Island is a 22 acre (89,000 m²) major recreation site located in South Boston on the shore of Boston Harbor, and the site of a five sided fort built before the American Civil War. First named Fort William and Mary by the British, it was renamed Fort Independence in 1779 and is one of the oldest fortified sites in British North America. Long recognized for its strategic location, the fort helped protect Boston from British attack during the War of 1812. The island is also the site of a monument to Donald McKay, the builder of the famous clipper ships Flying Cloud and Sovereign of the Seas.

Castle Island was originally some distance offshore, but land reclamation for expansion of port facilities has extended the mainland towards it, and it is now connected to the mainland by pedestrian and vehicle causeways. Today it is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and is open to tours in the summer.

Local lore has it that an unpopular officer was walled up in the fort's dungeon following a duel in which he slayed a more popular man. Edgar Allan Poe learned of the legend while serving on Castle Island in the Army, and his short story "The Cask of Amontillado" is said to be based on it.

During the Second World War the U.S. Navy used the site for a ship degaussing station.