Walking around New York (B&W Series) by Sergio Brisola Open the post to see the bigger picture...
Castle Clinton - Walls within Walls - NYC
Castle Clinton or Fort Clinton, once known as Castle Garden, is a circular sandstone fort now located in Battery Park, in Manhattan, New York City. 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 currently is a national monument.
Castle Clinton stands approximately two blocks west of where Fort Amsterdam was built in 1626, when New York City was known by the Dutch name New Amsterdam. Construction began in 1808 and was completed in 1811. The fort, known as West Battery (sometimes Southwest 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 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 it never saw action in that or any war. Subsequent landfill expanded Battery Park, and the fort was incorporated 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 (October 15, 1966).
19th century
From 1896 to 1941, Castle Garden was the site of the New York City Aquarium. For many years, it was the city's most popular attraction, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The structure was extensively altered, and roofed over to a height of several stories, though the original masonry fort remained. In 1941, the politically powerful Park Commissioner Robert Moses wanted to tear the structure down completely, claiming that this was necessary to build a crossing from the Battery to Brooklyn. The public outcry at the loss of a popular recreation site and landmark stymied his effort at demolition, but the aquarium was closed, and not replaced until Moses opened a new facility on Coney Island in 1957. See Brooklyn-Battery bridge. Due to the efforts of Albert S. Bard and other civic reformers, the Castle was saved, and finally became a 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. It is currently administered by the National Park Service, and is a departure point for visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It appears today much as it did in its earliest days; it has a museum, and is again called Castle Clinton.
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