Castle Williams

06/26/2018

Governors Island National Monument

Governors Island National Monument

Castle Williams is undergoing some much needed preservation work. That work has reached a point where we may have to limit access to the Castle for the next couple of days. The passport stamp will be available in fort Jay and we'll be running programs in Fort Jay Wednesday , Thursday and Friday. So come talk to the rangers in Fort Jay and rest assured the castle will be up and running soon, Thanks so much for your consideration and support.

04/23/2018

Governors Island WWI Monuments Designated National War Memorials

Governors Island WWI Monuments Designated National War Memorials

In a surprise announcement, the project to restore three lost World War I memorials on Governors Island were named national war memorials by a group of U.S. historians and veterans organizations. G…

08/20/2017

The solar eclipse is tomorrow! Come to Governors Island and watch it with us. The peak of the eclipse happens between 1:23pm and 2:44pm EST. In New York City, there will be about 71% sun coverage, so you MUST wear approved eclipse glasses or make a viewer yourself at home to be able to see it without harming your eyes. It only takes a few seconds for permanent damage.

Not only do we have plenty of glasses, but we also have special eclipse Junior Ranger books and badges! If you can't make it here, check your local National Park sites, libraries, and museums for viewing events.

05/01/2017

Who said there's no such thing as a free lunch? Thanks, Oscar Mayer Wienermobile! Come back soon!

02/07/2017

Governors Island National Monument

We saw a painting a few months ago that shows Castle Williams probably after the Civil War. What really caught our eye was the barge with canvas awning, ferrying soldiers from the Battery to Governors Island. Yep, there is at least 8 dudes a-rowing...

Could be an idea for supplemental ferry service to Red Hook - cooperative community rowing.

12/15/2016

SCA NPS Academy NYC

Natasha Soto interned at Governors Island National Monument

A partnership between the Student Conservation Association and the National Park Service, SCA NPS Academy has been helping underrepresented college students ...

09/29/2016

Castle Williams about 1907-1911.

09/25/2016

Castle Williams from the Statue of Liberty on a cold day in February 2015.

09/25/2016

Anastasia Raptis and her class on corrections from John Jay College of Criminal Justice came for a visit on September 9th.

#NPS100 #FindYourPark #GovIslandHappy

08/20/2016

Governors Island National Monument

—David McCullough, bestselling author of The Wright Brothers talking about Brent Glass's book, 50 GREAT AMERICAN PLACES
Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S.

“Here one will find ample reminders of who we are as a people, and why we are the way we are, as expressed in American art, music, science and technology, medicine…Here in the pages of this fine book by Brent Glass one will find reason in abundance to get out on the road to see for yourself what you haven’t yet seen, or retrace favorite previous steps a second time.”

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Glass is offering a free author's talk about his book in observance of the National Park Service's 100th anniversary at 1pm, tomorrow on Governors Island at the Admiral's House in Nolan Park. His book will be on sale and available for autographing.

#FindYourPark #NPS100

08/16/2016

Governors Island National Monument

In honor of the National Park Service centennial,this Sunday, August 21 at 1 PM, Brent Glass will present a program based on his recent book 50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. Dr. Glass, director emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, is promoting the importance of experience and preserving America’s rich heritage.

This free talk will be held in the Commanding Officer's Quarters or "Admiral's House" in Nolan Park at 1 PM, Sunday, August 21. Seating is limited. The book will be available for sale and autographing.

#FindYourPark #NPS100

08/07/2016

Governors Island National Monument

Governors Island National Monument

This was a great Coast Guard weekend we hosted a few years ago. Memories were remembered and shared and a memory or two was created.... It was a lot of fun.

mobile.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/nyregion/at-governors-island-reunion-childhood-bonds-stand-the-test-of-time.html

07/12/2016

Governors Island National Monument

Governors Island National Monument

There are twenty-five 15 inch Rodman Cannons remaining in the world out of 300 made. Governors Island National Monument proudly preserves two of them!

07/12/2016

Governors Island National Monument

October 1942. Hauling away a Civil War-era 10" Rodman cannon from Fort Jay for scrap iron. It weighed five tons and could shoot two miles. Its last trip was on this 1918 vintage hard rubber wheel tow truck to the docks down the hill, then a barge to a Pennsylvania steel mill.

There are seven Rodman cannons left on the island. Six of them can be seen at Fort Jay and Castle Williams.

#FindYourPark, it can be a blast..

07/09/2016

Governors Island National Monument

"We Know Castles..." Rangers Stuart and Jean. They and the rest of the staff offer thirty minute tours of the Castle Williams every hour starting at 10:30 am. Last tour on weekdays is at 4:30 pm. last one on weekends at 5:30 pm

#FindYourPark or Castle.... #NPS100 #GovIslandHappy in a Castle-sort of way

07/02/2016

Military History in New York City

We had forgotten the filming of this little spot with Ranger Caroline back a few years ago... If you can't visit, this is a pretty good alternative.

https://youtu.be/warOmU2avv0

Just a ferry ride off the island of Manhattan sits one of the most important military forts in U.S. history. Castle Williams, on Governors Island, is the fir...

06/03/2016

Governors Island National Monument

For those of you who like wizbangs and smartphone gizzmos, we now have an app for your iPhone.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nps-manhattan-governors-island/id1049326105

06/02/2016

Rangers are always pointing at something. When we're on the roof of Castle William we point to Ellis Island and talk about Fort Gibson. Well if you ever get over to Ellis, you can see the remnants of Fort Gibson yourself, but until then here are some pictures.

05/06/2016

Fort Jay

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day, so we thought it would be fun to share a connection between Governors Island and comics! Issues #615 and #616 of Marvel’s the Amazing Spider-Man are set on Governors Island, with some awesome illustrations of Fort Jay. In the issues, Spider-Man visits Governors Island and battles the Sandman around the island, including landmarks like Fort Jay, Castle Williams, the historic district, and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel vent shaft. So as you’re picking up your oodles of free comics today, think of us and how you can visit these places in person in just a few short weeks!

#FindYourPark #GovIslandNPS #FreeComicBookDay

05/06/2016

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day, so we thought it would be fun to share a connection between Governors Island and comics! Issues #615 and #616 of Marvel’s the Amazing Spider-Man are set on Governors Island, with some awesome illustrations of Castle Williams. In the issues, Spider-Man visits Governors Island and battles the Sandman around the island, including landmarks like Fort Jay, Castle Williams, the historic district, and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel vent shaft. So as you’re picking up your oodles of free comics today, think of us and how you can visit these places in person in just a few short weeks!

#FindYourPark #GovIslandNPS #FreeComicBookDay

04/28/2016

Fort Pulaski National Monument

The first Union troops to move into Fort Pulaski were the 7th Connecticut Volunteers under the command of Colonel Alfred Terry, around midnight of April 12th 1862. Charles Olmstead described the Connecticut men as “courteous and kind to our garrison in the two or three days that we remained at the Fort. Confederate Lemuel Wilson Landershine thought differently stating that “the Yankees are all over the fort, some talking our men while others are sneaking around our quarters to see what they can pocket.”

The next morning on April 13th, after preparing rations, 100 prisoners were picked to be transported north. Boarding the Steamer “McClellan,” members of the Oglethorpe Light Infantry and Montgomery Guards, were sent north 6 ½ miles to Hilton Head Island. Landershine was one of the prisoners selected first, leaving his brother David Landershine in charge of the sick and wounded Confederates in Fort Pulaski. The Landershine brothers would never see one another again as David died of disease while his older brother Lemuel was being held in Castle Williams on Governor’s Island, in New York Harbor. (am)

You can visit Castle Williams at Governors Island National Monument !

Photo: Library of Congress

#TheBattleofFortPulaski #154thAnniversary #FindYourPark

04/18/2016

Governors Island National Monument

Castle Williams in the mid-1930s not long after completion of the secure cells portion of the prison. This is where the segregation and isolation cells - solitary confinement cells are today. The 1930s windows open differently than today's windows. The top of the stair tower is wood with a door opening for watching the prisoners below. Today, the top of the stair towers are both brick.

04/14/2016

Governors Island National Monument

On this day, November 18, 1928, Walt Disney (WHO WAS NEVER HELD PRISONER IN Castle Williams FOR BEING AWOL WHEN HE WAS IN THE ARMY HERE) introduced us to Mickey Mouse in the cartoon, Steamboat Willy.

As for Walt, we think the story of his unfortunate and untrue incarceration on our fair island was a bit of Coast Guard folklore dreamed up in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Walt was never in the Army in World War I. Wasn't old enough.

02/26/2016

The Academy Awards are this weekend, which spurred us to investigate some of the connections that Governors Island has to the entertainment world. In recent years, feature films like American Gangster, Choose, and Spinning Into Butter have been shot here. TV shows Law and Order, Without a Trace, and Project Runway have also filmed on island. This photo is from Travel Channel’s Off Limits, filmed in Castle Williams as a part of its Secrets of New York Islands episode.

#FindYourPark #GovIslandNPS #Oscars

02/11/2016

Something to compare to the previous post, January 25, 2016.

02/10/2016

Lower Manhattan from Castle Williams, Fall 1983. Photo from the National Park Service Historic American Building Survey collection at the Library of Congress.

02/10/2016

Picture taking time at Castle Williams, May 2014. Rangers don't let good visitors do selfies...

01/14/2016

Governors Island National Monument

In late October, we hosted a group of students from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and preservation. They were all part of a seminar entitled Vauban’s Military Urbanism roughly translated - French cities and the forts that protected them -, taught by Professor Victoria Sanger. On the roof of Castle Williams, Ranger Joe Korber is telling them all about it...

#FindYourPark #GovIslandHappy

01/07/2016

TBT, the Castle WIlliams courtyard, just before World War II, the Castle is an army stockade at this time.. The renovation that encloses the 2nd and 3rd tiers will not be finished until after the war in 1947. There's still no center stair case but if you've been on our tour you'll see the navigation beacon tower up there on the roof and where the larger, round smoke stack is, in the image, is where the chimney is today, with the main stairs just to the left of it.

#findyourpark #tbt Probably not #GovIslandHappy...

01/07/2016

Photo by Frank T. Coffyn during a flight on February 15, 1912.

12/25/2015

The American Forts Network made Castle Williams their cover photo today!!

Castle Williams, Governors Island, New York City. Photo by Mike Casale, September 2014.

12/25/2015

Governors Island National Monument

The NY Times, in the 19th, century would report on how the holidays were celebrated, around the city. This report included how the soldiers stationed Governors Island, and other parts of the city, made merry on the 25th. Here are trio of reports from the early 1870s.

12/22/2015

Ranger Pic of the Week

Castle Williams is closed for the season, but that doesn't mean we're gone! Every week, we'll give you a behind the scenes look at what's happening at Castle Williams when you're not here.

Today marks 2015’s winter solstice! Here’s a snowy photo of Castle Williams from a winter past. This is the typical view we will have here at Governors Island National Monument for about the next 5 months or so. Let the snowball fights commence!

#FindYourPark #GovIslandNPS #Winterishere

12/17/2015

Ranger Pic of the Week

Castle Williams is closed for the season, but that doesn't mean we're gone! Every week, we'll give you a behind the scenes look at what's happening at Castle Williams when you're not here.

Today is the 112th Anniversary of the first flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, which means it is Wright Brothers Day! To celebrate, we’re taking a look at the aviation history from Governors Island.

In 1909, Wilbur Wright--pictured with his airplane below--broke the record for longest continuous flight over water. Although he made a couple of these record breaking flights during the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, the most notable was on October 4th, when he took off on Governors Island, flew up the Hudson to General Grant’s Tomb, and returned to land back on the island. In the photo, you can see the special modifications Wright made to his plane before flying over the water. The whole event was commemorated with an aviation monument that still stands today on Governors Island.

#FindYourPark #GovIslandNPS #WrightBrothersNationalMemorial

12/16/2015

The USS Essex was the second of two ships called upon by Williams to test the castle's strength. The Essex was built in New England and launched in the fall of 1799. She would see action right away in the "Quasi War" with France in 1800 and spend the next decade patrolling America's waters, being commissioned, decommissioned and recommissioned. As tensions rose between the US and Great Britain and war declared in 1812, the Essex would be recommission and begin her 1812 career with quite a bit of gusto, taking 10 prizes in the summer of 1812. Aboard the Essex was a newly assigned midshipman, 9 or 10 years of age, named David G. Farragut.
So the future first Admiral of the United States Navy, the man who said, "damn the torpedoes".... at the Battle of Mobile bay during the Civil War, was a young preteen aboard the Essex, probably watching the Castle Williams tests. During the War of 1812 the Essex would eventually sail around Cape Horn, capturing many British prizes in the process. Her Exploits would inspire one of Patrick O'Brien's famous Capt Aubrey novels and, like the President, she would be capture by the British, after fierce battle, and serve the Royal Navy until the 1830s