Castle Clinton

Castle Clinton National Monument
Castle Garden
Castle Clinton in Battery Park
Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey
Location: South Ferry, New York City, New York, USA
Area: 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built: 1808
Architect: John McComb; U.S. War Department
Visitation: 2,949,231 (2004)
Governing body: National Park Service
NRHP Reference#: 66000537
Significant dates
Added to NRHP: October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NMON: August 12, 1946
Designated NYCL: November 23, 1965

Castle Clinton or Fort Clinton, once known as Castle Garden, is a circular sandstone fort now located in Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, New York City, in the United States. It is perhaps best remembered as America's first immigration station (predating Ellis Island), where more than 8 million people arrived in the U.S. from 1855 to 1890. Over its active life, it has also functioned as a beer garden, exhibition hall, theater, public aquarium, and finally today as a national monument.

Contents

History

Today, Castle Clinton stands approximately two blocks west of where Fort Amsterdam stood almost 400 years ago, when New York City was still known by the Dutch name New Amsterdam.

Construction began in 1808 and was completed in 1811. The fort, known as West Battery (sometimes South-west Battery), was designed by architects John McComb Jr. and Jonathan Williams. It was built on a small artificial island just off shore.

West Battery was intended to complement the three-tiered Castle Williams (still extant) on Governors Island, which was East Battery, to defend New York City from British forces in the tensions that marked the run-up to the War of 1812, but never saw action in that or any war. Subsequent landfill expanded Battery Park, and incorporated the fort into the mainland of Manhattan Island.

As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, Castle Clinton National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

Changing names and uses

Castle Clinton National Monument

Although Castle Garden was designated a national monument on August 12, 1946, the law did not take effect until July 18, 1950, when the legislature and the governor of New York (Thomas Dewey) formally ceded ownership of the property to the Federal Government. A major rehabilitation took place in the 1970s. Today it is administered by the National Park Service and is a departure point for visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It appears much as it did in its earliest days, contains a museum, and is again called Castle Clinton.

Noted Castle Garden immigrants

This list is an incomplete sampling

Castle Garden bibliography

Castle Garden/Castle Clinton in fiction

Castle Garden/Castle Clinton in Music

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  2. ^ About.com, Castle Garden - America's First Official Immigration Center
  3. ^ The New York Times, 15 June 1897, Fire on Ellis Island
  4. ^ Author: Caro, Robert A. The power broker: Robert Moses and the fall of New York. New York, Knopf, 1974. ISBN 0-394-72024-5

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Castle_Clinton_National_Monument Castle Clinton National Monument] at Wikimedia Commons