Castle Williams facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Castle Williams |
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| Governors Island, New York, New York | |
View from the Staten Island Ferry on New York Harbor
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| Type | Circular fort |
| Height | 40 feet |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Public - National Park Service |
| Controlled by | United States of America |
| Open to the public |
Yes |
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Castle Williams
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 Location in New York City
Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Visitation | 126,000 (2008) |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000864 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | July 31, 1972 |
| Condition | Fair |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1807 |
| Built by | Jonathan Williams |
| In use | 1808-1840s |
| Materials | Sandstone, Granite, Brick |
Castle Williams is a cool, round fort made of red sandstone. You can find it on the northwest side of Governors Island in New York Harbor. It was built in the early 1800s to help protect New York City from attacks by ships.
Today, Castle Williams is a famous landmark. It is managed by the National Park Service. It is part of the Governors Island National Monument, along with Fort Jay.
Contents
Building the Fort: Design and Construction
Castle Williams was designed and built between 1807 and 1811. A smart engineer named Jonathan Williams led the project. He was also the first leader of the United States Military Academy (West Point).
This fort was one piece of a big defense plan for New York Harbor. Other forts in this system included Fort Jay (then called Fort Columbus) and the South Battery on Governors Island. There was also Castle Clinton in Manhattan, Fort Wood on Liberty Island, and Fort Gibson on Ellis Island.
A New Way to Build Forts
The design of Castle Williams was very new and important for its time. It had many levels where cannons could be placed inside strong, protected rooms called casemates. This design became a model for how other forts were built in America for the next 100 years.
The fort is almost perfectly round. It stands 40 feet tall and is 210 feet across. Its walls are made of sandstone and are 7 to 8 feet thick. Each of its four levels could hold 26 cannons. These cannons were placed in 13 casemates on each level. The top level also had cannons on the roof.
Only a few other forts in the U.S. had four levels like Castle Williams. However, at Castle Williams, the third level was used for soldiers' living areas, not for cannons.
In 1810, before the fort was even finished, it was named. An Army leader decided to call it "Castle Williams" to honor Jonathan Williams. He was the engineer who designed and built it.
Castle Williams During the Civil War
During the American Civil War, Castle Williams was very busy. It was used for several purposes.
- New soldiers joining the Union Army stayed there.
- It served as a barracks, which means a place for soldiers to live.
- It was also a prison for soldiers who left the Union Army without permission.
- Confederate soldiers who were captured were also held there.
After 1865, the castle became a military prison for less serious offenders. It also housed new soldiers and those passing through. By the 1880s, the fort was getting old. Its walls were showing wear, and it was not as useful for defense anymore. Around 1895, it was improved with central heating and plumbing. It became one of the ten main military prisons for the U.S. Army.
Life as a Prison
In the early 1900s, leaders decided to keep the forts on Governors Island. Between 1901 and 1912, the island itself became twice as big due to new land being added.
In 1903, Castle Williams was updated to be a modern prison. It likely got electricity in 1904. In 1912-13, parts of the entrance were changed to create a two-story guardhouse. Stones from old storage buildings inside the fort were used for this.
Castle Williams became a branch of a larger military prison system in 1915 and 1921. More updates happened in the 1930s. The plumbing, heating, and electrical systems were completely redone. The floors and roof were made stronger with steel. Some cells on the second and third levels got steel bars and special solitary confinement cells.
More big changes happened in 1947-48. The courtyard started to look more like a factory. Concrete balconies replaced old wooden ones. A new three-story brick building with a steel staircase was added. The second-level cells got concrete floors and brick walls. Steel security windows and doors replaced wooden ones.
Castle Williams stopped being a military prison in 1965. This happened when the U.S. Army closed its base on Governors Island.
What Happened Next: Closure and Preservation
The United States Coast Guard moved to Governors Island in 1966. At first, they thought about tearing down Castle Williams. But instead, they turned it into a community center! It had a nursery for kids, meeting rooms for clubs, a woodworking shop, art studios, and a photography lab. It even had a museum.
In the mid-1970s, these community activities moved to other places on the island. Castle Williams then became a storage building and a place for landscape tools. It was not used much and started to show signs of neglect.
When the Governors Island Coast Guard base closed in 1997, the building was made stable. It got new windows and a new roof.
In 2003, Castle Williams and Fort Jay were given to the National Park Service. Now, they are part of the Governors Island National Monument. Castle Williams is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it is a very important historical site.
See also
In Spanish: Castle Williams para niños
