Last weekend, the Secret
Victorianist visited Governors Island and explored the fort designed to protect
New York City – Castle Williams.
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| The courtyard at Castle Williams today |
Designed by Lieutenant Colonel
Jonathan Williams, the man from which the building takes its name, the
fortification was constructed between 1807 and 1811. Its circular shape was
highly innovative at the time, giving soldiers stationed at the fort’s
casements a wider field of range from which to defend New York Harbour.
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| Entering the fort |
Built initially to stave off
attack from the British, the castle served as a barracks for Union soldiers
during the Civil War, before being repurposed as a military prison, a usage
that continued well into the twentieth century.
My favourite part of the
building’s history was learning about the years when the Coast Guard was in
residence (1966-1997). In their early years on the island, Coast Guard families
brought new life to this nineteenth-century fort, as it provided a space for a
nursery, meeting rooms and various clubs and studios for the small population.
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| A model of the original design |
It’s hard to imagine the New York
of the 1800s, so, today, Castle Williams is an oddity — a nineteenth-century
precaution against a threat that never came to fruition, a building that has
undergone transformation after transformation, tied to the varied history of
Governors Island.
The fort that once sought to
protect the city is now dwarfed by it. It is only a backdrop to family outings,
cycle parties and picnickers. This weekend Governors Island was overrun by
women in pastel pinks knocking back rosé at the annual Pinknic
festival, next weekend new boatloads of day-trippers will pause, read a sign
about Castle Williams’ past and move on.
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| Pinknic revellers |
Which NYC spots would you like to see the Secret Victorianist to
explore next? Let me know — here, on Facebook or by tweeting
@SVictorianist.
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