Castle Williams
Encyclopedia
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
, part of a system of forts designed and constructed in the early 19th century to protect New York City from naval attack. It is a prominent landmark in New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
. Together with Fort Jay
Fort Jay
Fort Jay is a harbor fortification and the name of the former Army post located on Governors Island in New York Harbor. Fort Jay is the oldest defensive structure on the island, built to defend Upper New York Bay, but has served other purposes...
(Fort Columbus), it is managed by the National Park Service as part of Governors Island National Monument
Governors Island National Monument
Governors Island National Monument is located in New York, New York on of Governors Island, a island located few hundred meters off the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East Rivers in New York Harbor....
.
Design and construction
Castle Williams was designed and erected between 1807 and 1811 under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel (later Colonel) Jonathan Williams, Chief Engineer of the Corps of EngineersUnited States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
and first Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point, New York. The castle was one component of a defensive system for the inner harbor that included Fort Columbus
Fort Columbus
Fort Columbus was a fortification and army post in Governors Island, New York Harbor, New York City, New York, from 1806 to 1904.-Fort Jay:Fort Columbus was the name of a fortification and later the army post that developed around it...
(later renamed Fort Jay
Fort Jay
Fort Jay is a harbor fortification and the name of the former Army post located on Governors Island in New York Harbor. Fort Jay is the oldest defensive structure on the island, built to defend Upper New York Bay, but has served other purposes...
) and the South Battery on Governors Island; Castle Clinton
Castle Clinton
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 , where more than 8 million...
at the tip of Manhattan, Fort Wood on Liberty Island
Liberty Island
Liberty Island is a small uninhabited island in New York Harbor in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. Though so called since the turn of the century, the name did not become official until 1956. In 1937, by proclamation 2250, President Franklin D...
, and Fort Gibson on Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
.
Its pioneering design consisted of enclosed or casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
d and multiple levels gun emplacements and set the prototype for American coastal fortification design for the rest of the 19th Century. The 40 foot high nearly circular fortification of 210 feet in diameter was constructed of sandstone walls 7 to 8 feet thick. Each of its four levels had 13 casements that could hold 26 cannons of varied caliber each.
The castle was eventually named for its designer builder in an order issued on November 24, 1810 by Colonel Henry Burbeck, commanding the defenses of New York. "In future the Stone Tower on this Island (by the approbation of the Secretary of War) will bear the name of CASTLE WILLIAMS, in honor of the commandant of the United States Corps of Engineers, who designed and erected it."
Civil War
During the Civil War, the casemateCasemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s (bombproof vaults) of Castle Williams were alternately used to house newly recruited Union troops, a barracks for the garrison's troops and to imprison Confederate enlisted men and deserters from the Union Army. After 1865 it became a low- security military prison
Military prison
A military prison is a prison operated by the military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, enemy combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime...
that was also used as quarters for recruits and transient troops. The castle was considered to be an aging and obsolete fortification by the 1880s, with pitted and crumbling walls. Improvements including the installation of central heating and plumbing were most likely made in 1895 when Castle Williams was designated as one of a system of 10 military prisons in the U.S. Army.
Use as a prison
A commitment to preserve the forts of Governors Island was made in the early 20th century by Secretary of War Elihu RootElihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
when landfill operations doubled the size of Governors Island between 1901 and 1912. The castle was fitted up as a model prison in 1903, and was most likely wired for electricity when it became available on the island in 1904. Remodeling of the angled gate walls occurred in 1912- 13 to create a two- story guardhouse, using stones from two demolished magazines within the courtyard. Castle Williams became the Atlantic Branch of the Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
Disciplinary Barracks in 1915, and the Eastern Branch of the United States Disciplinary Barracks
United States Disciplinary Barracks
The United States Disciplinary Barracks is a military prison located on Fort Leavenworth, a United States Army post in Kansas....
in 1921. Expansion of the plumbing system occurred in 1916, and complete renovation of the plumbing, central heating, and electrical systems was carried out in the 1930s. The floors and roof were also reinforced with steel in the 1930s, and steel grating and solitary confinement cells were installed in selected casemates of the second and third tiers.
Extensive renovations were carried out in 1947-48, resulting in the industrial appearance of the courtyard today. Concrete balconies enclosed with steel sashes replaced existing wooden galleries, and a three- story brick addition enclosed a steel stair. Concrete floors and brick partitions were installed in the casemates of the second tier, and steel security sashes and doors replaced those made of wood. Castle Williams ceased operations as a military prison in 1965, as the U.S. Army closed its post at Fort Jay and moved Headquarters, First United States Army from Governors Island to Fort Meade, Maryland.
Final years of use and preservation
With the arrival of the U.S. Coast Guard to Governors Island in 1966, there was initial consideration to demolishing the castle, but instead it became a community center including a nursery, meeting rooms for Scouts and clubs, a woodworking shop, art studios, a photography laboratory, and a museum. With the relocation of those civilian functions to new locations on the island in the mid-1970s, the castle ended its military career in a state of mild neglect as a storage facility and landscape shop for the Coast Guard. In 1997, with the closure of the Governors Island Coast Guard base, the General Services AdministrationGeneral Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
stabilized the building with replacement windows and a new roof.
In 2003, Castle Williams and neighboring fortification, Fort Jay, was transferred to the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
and now administered as part of the Governors Island National Monument
Governors Island National Monument
Governors Island National Monument is located in New York, New York on of Governors Island, a island located few hundred meters off the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East Rivers in New York Harbor....
. It is a National Registered Historic Place
National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan on Islands
This is intended to be a complete list of historic properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places located on islands other than Manhattan Island but still in New York County, New York. For all properties and districts in the borough of Manhattan, see National Register...
.