National Park Ser

U.S. Department 

National Park ServiceU.S. Department of the Interior

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT 

i 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT

FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND 

NATIONAL MONUMENT

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Volume 1: 

INTRODUCTION

__________________________________________________________ 

SITE HISTORY

__________________________________________________________ 

EXISTING CONDITIONS

__________________________________________________________ 

ANALYSIS

By Lisa Nowak 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 

National Park Service, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

ii 

The Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation promotes the stewardship of 

significant landscapes through research, planning, and sustainable preservation 

maintenance. The Center accomplishes its mission in collaboration with a network of 

partners including national parks, universities, government agencies, and private 

nonprofit organizations. Techniques and principles of preservation practice are made 

available through training and publications. 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 

Boston National Historical Park 

Charlestown Navy Yard, Quarters C 

Boston, MA 02129 

www.nps.gov/oclp/ 

National Park Service , Denver Technical Information Center report NPS 019/105092 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 

Nowak, Lisa. 

 Cultural landscape report for Governors Island National Monument / Lisa Nowak. 

 p. cm. 

 Includes bibliographical references and index. 

 1. Governors Island National Monument (New York, N.Y.)--Management. 2. 

Governors Island National Monument (New York, N.Y.)--Buildings, structures, etc. 

3. Landscape assessment--New York (State)--New York. 4. Landscape protection--

New York (State)--New York. 5. Historic sites--Conservation and restoration--New 

York (State)--New York. 6. Historic buildings--Conservation and restoration--New 

York (State)--New York. 7. Governors Island (New York County, N.Y.)--History. 8. 

Military bases--New York (State)--Governors Island (New York County)--History. I. 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation (U.S.) II. Title. 

 F128.68.G7C85 2010 

 974.7'1--dc22 

 2010033401 

Publication Credits: Graphics from sources other than federal repositories may not be 

reproduced without the permission of the owners noted in the captions. Other 

information in this publication may be copied and used with the condition that full 

credit be given to the authors and publisher. Appropriate citations and bibliographic 

credits should be made for each use. 

Cover Photo: Governors Island and Manhattan, circa 1932. GOIS image collection. 
TABLE OF CONTENTS

iii 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS V 

FOREWORD XI 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XIII 

INTRODUCTION 1 

Purpose of This Report 1 

Description of the Study Area 2 

Historical Overview 2 

Scope of Work and Methodology 4 

SITE HISTORY 9 

Pre-History to 1783 9 

1784-1815 31 

1816-1865 51 

1866-1918 73 

1919-1966 103 

1967-2010 145 

EXISTING CONDITIONS 159 

Introduction 159 

Building 140 159 

Dock 102 160 

Building 107 160 

Fort Jay 161 

Library 164 

Castle Williams 165 

ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 185 

Review of National Register Status 185 

Historical Significance 186 

Evaluation of Landscape Integrity 189 

Evaluation of Landscape Characteristics and Features 193 

Feature Analysis Summary 214 

REFERENCES 219 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

iv 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

v 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIGURES 

INTRODUCTION 

1.1 Governors Island and surrounding New York Harbor. 6 

1.2 Governors Island National Historic Landmark District. 7 

SITE HISTORY 

Pre-History to 1783 

2.1 Manatus Map, 1639. 19 

2.2 Enlargement of the Manatus Map, 1639. 19 

2.3 Enlargement of John Montresor’s plan of Governors Island, 

1766. 

20 

2.4 Governors Island, 1766-1767. 20 

2.5 “A Southwest View of the City of New York taken from 

Governor’s Island,” 1766-1767. 

21 

2.6 Design for Governors Island, 1766. 21 

2.7 Cross section of proposed fortification walls on Governors 

Island, 1766. 

22 

2.8 Map of New York Harbor, c 1776. 22 

2.9 View of the Harbor, including Governors Island, 1776. 23 

2.10 Governors Island after the battle of Long Island, 1776. 23 

2.11 Governors Island after the battle of Long Island, 1776. 24 

2.12 Fortifications of Governors Island, c. 1776. 24 

2.13 Untitled map, Governors Island, 1782. 25 

1784 to 1815 

3.1 Plan of proposed fortifications on Governors Island, 1794. 42 

3.2 Governors Island, c. 1800. 42 

3.3 Sketch of Governors Island and harbor, 1805. 43 

3.4 Governors Island Fortifications, circa 1813. 44 

3.5 Governors Island, 1816. 45 

1816 to 1865 

4.1 Governors Island from Manhattan, 1825. 59 

4.2 “Plan of Captain Thorton” for the New York Arsenal, 1847. 59 

4.3 Governors Island, 1836. 60 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

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4.4 Post Hospital, 1863. 60 

4.5 Bird’s-Eye View of New York and Brooklyn, 1851. 61 

4.6 Wharf area of Governors Island, 1857. 61 

4.7 Governors Island, circa 1850. 62 

4.8 Castle Williams, 1857. 62 

4.9 Castle Williams, 1841. 63 

4.10 South side of Governors Island, showing the cemetery, 

garden and South Battery, 1857. 

63 

4.11 Governors Island, 1860. 64 

4.12 Fort Columbus courtyard, 1864. 64 

4.13 Drilling in the Fort Columbus courtyard, 1861. 65 

4.14 Ramparts and rear elevation of Fort Columbus barracks, 

1864. 

65 

4.15 Drilling outside Fort Columbus, 1861. 66 

4.16 View northwest from the top of Castle Williams, 1862. 66 

4.17 View east of Castle Williams, looking to Brooklyn, 1862. 67 

4.18 Castle Williams, 1862. 68 

1866 to 1918 

5.1 View of Governors Island, looking north, 1879. 83 

5.2 Entrance to Fort Columbus, 1898. 83 

5.3 View of Governors Island, looking east, 1874. 84 

5.4 Dress parade of the 7th Regiment, circa 1890. 84 

5.5 View of Castle Williams and the covered defile between the 

forts, 1886. 

85 

5.6 Plan of Governors Island, 1879. 85 

5.7 Plan of Governors Island, 1871. 86 

5.8 Governors Island, 1879. 87 

5.9 Sketch of proposed barbette battery at Governors Island, 

1871. 

88 

5.10 Plan of Governors Island showing the seawall built around 

South Battery, 1880. 

88 

5.11 Plan of the extended seawall on the east side of the island, 

1884. 

89 

5.12 Governors Island as seen from Manhattan, 1894. 89 

5.13 View of Castle Williams, looking northwest, 1898. 90 

5.14 Garden party, circa 1900. 90 

5.15 Fort Columbus interior view, 1898. 91 

5.16 Governors Island plan, 1902. 91 

5.17 Proposed plan of the redesign of Governors Island, prepared 

by McKim, Mead, and White, 1902. 

92 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

vii 

5.18 Plan showing the extension of Governors Island, proposed 

piers, ferry slips, and depth chart, 1907. 

93 

5.19 As-built drawing of the enlargement of Governors Island, 

1912. 

93 

5.20 Governors Island, 1911. 94 

5.21 Governors Island, looking southwest, 1909. 94 

5.22 Ruth Law and her airplane at Governors Island, circa 1912. 95 

5.23 World War I warehouses on Governors Island, 1918. 95 

5.24 Plan of Governors Island, 1919. 96 

5.25 Railroad Repair Shop, 1918. 97 

5.26 Temporary office building, 1918. 97 

1919 to 1966 

6.1 1921 Map of Governors Island. 112 

6.2 Castle Williams prison yard, 1919. 112 

6.3 Castle Williams and the northwest side of the island, circa 

1917. 

113 

6.4 Castle Williams, 1924. 113 

6.5 Non-Commissioned Officers’ Quarters, Governors Island, 

1924. 

114 

6.6 Governors Island, as seen from the northwest, 1928. 114 

6.7 Tinsmith Shop, Governors Island, 1922. 115 

6.8 Civilian employees’ quarters, Governors Island, 1921. 115 

6.9 Fort Jay courtyard, 1922. 116 

6.10 Liggett Hall, 1938. 116 

6.11 1928 aerial photograph of Governors Island. 117 

6.12 “Mule being cleaned by electric vacuum cleaner,” 1924. 117 

6.13 Plan of Governors Island, 1928. 118 

6.14 Railroad wrecking gang, 1931. 118 

6.15 Caddy House, Governors Island, 1935. 119 

6.16 Polo Field, Governors Island, 1930. 119 

6.17 Aerial photograph, Governors Island, 1932. 120 

6.18 The new hospital, designed by McKim, Mead, and White, 

1934. 

120 

6.19 The post fire station, 1939. 121 

6.20 Non-commissioned officers’ quarters, 1939. 121 

6.21 Barracks buildings, 1938. 122 

6.22 Boiler room, 1938. 122 

6.23 Army labor troops planting trees at Governors Island, 1938. 123 

6.24 Library, 1933. 123 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

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6.25 Terreplein of Fort Jay looking north toward Manhattan, 

1935. 

124 

6.26 1934 Historic American Building Survey drawing of Fort Jay, 

Governors Island. 

124 

6.27 Janita and James carving a pumpkin at Fort Jay, 1930. 125 

6.28 Fort Jay garages, 1939. 125 

6.29 Fort Jay, 1935. 126 

6.30 Fort Jay courtyard, 1934. 126 

6.31 Golf at Governors Island, 1944. 127 

6.32 Officers’ tennis court, 1940. 127 

6.33 Enlisted men’s tennis courts, 1940. 128 

6.34 New polo grounds south of Liggett Hall, 1940. 128 

6.35 Polo match, Governors Island, 1940. 129 

6.36 Nurses’ quarters, 1942. 129 

6.37 Hospital Mess, 1942. 130 

6.38 Castle Williams, as seen from the north, circa 1942. 130 

6.39 Warehouse, Governors Island, 1942. 131 

6.40 Ceremony on the polo field, 1944. 131 

6.41 Cannon being removed from Fort Jay, 1942. 132 

6.42 Cannon being removed from South Battery, 1942. 132 

6.43 Target practice in the Fort Jay moat, 1944. 133 

6.44 Fort Jay courtyard, 1944. 133 

6.45 The entryway of Castle Williams, 1944. 134 

6.46 Castle Williams from the south, 1944. 134 

6.49 Oblique aerial of Governors Island, 1966. 139 

6.50 Governors Island, looking north, 1966. 139 

6.51 Fort Jay, 1966. 140 

6.52 Soissons Dock, 1966. 140 

1967 to 2010 

7.1 Castle Williams from the north, 1968. 151 

7.2 “General Tree-Cover and Recreation Map, Fort Jay, 1962.” 151 

7.3 Barracks, Governors Island, circa 1975. 152 

7.4 “Governors Island, Fort Columbus, Building 202, east side, 

looking southwest, 1983.” 

152 

7.5 “Governors Island, Fort Columbus, Building 202, west front, 

1983.” 

153 

7.6 Fort Jay oblique aerial, looking north, 1977. 153 

7.7 “Governors Island, Fort Columbus, Aerial Views, Looking 

Northwest, 1983.” 

154 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ix 

EXISTING CONDITIONS 

8.1 Building 140 and environs, 2010. 167 

8.2 Building 140, located adjacent to the main dock, Soissons 

Dock, 2008. 

168 

8.3 Dock 102 and environs, 2010. 168 

8.4 Dock 102, located east of Fort Jay, 2010. 169 

8.5 Building 107 and environs, 2010. 169 

8.6 Building 107, which houses the National Monument’s 

administrative functions, 2008. 

170 

8.7 The Andes Road tree and hedge line, 2008. 170 

8.8 The Fort Jay and Castle Williams areas of the National 

Monument, 2008. 

171 

8.9 View from Dock 102, up Andes Road, to Fort Jay’s main gate, 

2008. 

172 

8.10 The Fort Jay entry circle, 2008. 172 

8.11 Fort Jay main gate, bridge, and east sallyport, 2008. 173 

8.12 The Fort Jay courtyard, as seen from the porch of one of the 

barracks, 2008. 

173 

8.13 The Fort Jay west sally port, leading to the dry moat, 2008. 174 

8.14 Stone-paved alleys at Fort Jay, leading to the terreplein behind 

the barracks at each corner of the inner courtyard, 2008. 

174 

8.15 The clothes line support post behind the Fort Jay barracks, 

2008. 

175 

8.16 Domestic plantings on the Fort Jay terreplein, 2008. 175 

8.17 The stone barbeque on the terreplein of Fort Jay, 2008. 176 

8.18 The Fort Jay ravelin cannon, 2008. 176 

8.19 The flagstaff, located in the Fort Jay ravelin, 2008. 177 

8.20 The Fort Jay dry moat, resting between the scarp walls and 

counterscarp walls, 2008. 

177 

8.21 The west sally port of Fort Jay, looking toward the stairs that 

lead to the covered defile and Parade Ground, 2008. 

178 

8.22 Remains of the covered defile, evidenced at the northwest 

corner of Fort Jay’s outer walls, 2008. 

178 

8.23 Golf course bunkers and berms on the Parade Ground, 2008. 179 

8.24 The flagstone path crossing the parade ground, connecting the 

west sally port of Fort Jay to Comfort Road, 2008. 

179 

8.25 London plane trees east of the Library, 2008. 180 

8.26 The main door of the Library, 2008. 180 

8.27 The grassy rectangle of lawn south of the Library, 2008. 181 

8.28 The parking lot between Castle Williams and the Library, 

2008. 

181 

8.29 Buildings 513 A, B, and C, located just south of Castle 

Williams, 2008. 

182 

8.30 Castle Williams and Building 513, looking north, 2008. 182 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

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8.31 Castle Williams and Carder Road, looking north towards 

Manhattan, 2008. 

183 

8.32 Cobra-style street lights, located along Carder Road and Castle 

Williams’ north side, 2008. 

183 

8.33 Castle Williams’ main door, 2008. 184 

8.34 The east side of Castle Williams, looking north, 2008. 184 

TABLES 

9.1 Feature Analysis Summary. 214 

DRAWINGS 

2.14 1783 Period Plan. 27 

2.15 1783 Period Plan enlargement. 29 

3.6 1815 Period Plan. 47 

3.7 1815 Period Plan enlargement. 49 

4.19 1865 Period Plan. 69 

4.20 1865 Period Plan enlargement. 71 

5.27 1918 Period Plan. 99 

5.28 1918 Period Plan enlargement. 101 

6.47 1945 Period Plan. 135 

6.48 1945 Period Plan enlargement. 137 

6.53 1966 Period Plan. 141 

6.54 1966 Period Plan enlargement. 143 

7.8 2010 Period Plan. 155 

7.9 2010 Period Plan enlargement. 157 
FOREWORD

xi 

FOREWORD 

Located just off the tip of southern Manhattan, Governors Island National 

Monument is an incredible place to explore and learn about the evolution of 

coastal defense and military communities as well as the harbor’s rich history and 

ecology. The cultural landscape is integral to understanding the significance of 

the Monument’s resources. With this foundational report, one can see the 

changes over time and how the landscape connects and informs our view of 

Castle Williams and Fort Jay, two outstanding examples of coastal defense 

fortifications. 

The information contained in this report will be extremely helpful as we begin the 

implementation phases of the General Management Plan. Of particular interest 

are the photos and maps which chronicle the changes to the island and the 

monument in an engaging way showing the influence of people, events, and 

natural forces. Drawing on this foundational report will help us enhance the 

interpretive experience for our audiences as well guide the management of these 

important cultural treasures. 

This report would not have been possible without the superb expertise of the 

staff at the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. Lisa Nowak is to be 

commended for her dedication and guidance in producing this excellent report. I 

want to thank her and all the individuals who contributed to this timely and 

important reference. 

Patti Reilly 

Superintendent 

Governors Island National Monument 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

xiii 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The successful completion of this report was due to collaboration between 

numerous individuals. Firstly, thank you to the staff of Governors Island National 

Monument. Former Superintendent Linda Neal was a strong supporter and 

assisted with scoping and project coordination, providing guidance and review 

comments in the beginning stages of the project. Thanks to Superintendent Patti 

Reilly for continuing to support the project and seeing it through to completion. 

Dena Saslaw Schwartz, Program Analyst, participated in scoping meetings and 

provided logistical support during the research phase of the project. Ed 

Lorenzini, facility manager, assisted the project team with information about 

recent maintenance practices. Thanks are also due to Michael B. Shaver, 

Supervisory Park Ranger, for his assistance with historic research and for his 

review comments. 

The author is grateful to numerous members of the Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation staff for serving on the project team. Director Bob Page 

served as an advocate for the project and was instrumental in scoping and review 

of draft and final products. Team Leader Eliot Foulds provided project 

management oversight throughout the project, serving as a sounding board for 

decisions large and small, including those relating to scoping, scheduling, 

research coordination, and editorializing. Landscape Intern Rumika Chaudry 

created the initial drafts of the period plans and Historical Landscape Architect 

Michael Commisso provided extensive assistance with revising the maps. Thanks 

are due to both for their help in producing such excellent maps. Thank you to 

Landscape Intern Rose Marques for her assistance with field work and the 

drafting of the existing conditions narrative. Also, thanks to Historical Landscape 

Architect Jeff Killion for his thorough and insightful review comments. 

Architectural Conservator Barbara Yocum with the Northeast Region’s Historic 

Architecture Program generously shared research material gathered during the 

preparation of her excellent Historic Structures Reports for Castle Williams and 

Fort Jay. Additionally, thank you to Betsy Igleheart from the Northeast Region’s 

History Program for reviewing the National Register and historic significance 

components of the analysis and evaluation chapter of the report. 

Numerous repositories were consulted during the historic research phase of the 

project. Thanks are due to the archivists and reprographic staff at the New York 

Public Library, the Brooklyn Historical Society, the Museum of the City of New 

York, the Center for Military History in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the Library of 

Congress, and the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

xiv 
INTRODUCTION

 

1 

INTRODUCTION 

For over two hundred years, Governors Island, located off the southern tip of 

Manhattan, was home to a military community and played an active role in the 

defense and development of the New York Harbor area. Now, in the twenty-first 

century, as both a unit of the National Park Service and a city-owned space for 

public enjoyment, Governors Island takes on a new role in the continuing 

evolution of the New York metro region. Governors Island National Monument, 

an approximately 22-acre space focused around the late-eighteenth and 

nineteenth-century fortifications Fort Jay and Castle Williams and their 

associated landscapes, partners with the city-owned Trust for Governors Island 

to serve as stewards of the island as it enters a dramatically new phase in its 

development. 

THE PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT 

Cultural landscape reports serve as the National Park Service’s primary 

document for the treatment of cultural landscapes – defined as geographic areas 

associated with a historic event, activity, or person, or as areas that exhibit 

significant cultural or aesthetic values. Cultural landscape reports are tools to 

inform day-to-day decision making as well as long-term landscape preservation 

strategies. These reports provide information about a site’s history and evolution, 

existing conditions, historical significance, and historic integrity to guide 

treatment actions. 

This report represents the first volume of a cultural landscape report, including a 

site history, existing conditions, and an analysis of significance and integrity that 

will inform a comprehensive landscape treatment plan in the future. A general 

management plan was recently completed for Governors Island National 

Monument to help guide and coordinate park planning and management for the 

next twenty years. Treatment actions proposed in a forthcoming second volume 

of this report will support the strategies outlined in the general management plan. 

One of the key objectives of this volume of the report is to provide a description 

of the landscape through all historic periods up to and including present 

management based on primary and secondary sources. This information is used 

to identify important historic contexts and periods of significance associated with 

the landscape. Additionally, documentary evidence is synthesized to identify 

landscape characteristics and features that contribute to the historic character of 

Governors Island National Monument. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

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DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA 

Governors Island National Monument is an irregularly shaped 22.78-acre parcel 

situated on the north side of Governors Island, New York. The 172-acre island is 

located one-half mile south of Manhattan and one-third mile west of Red Hook, 

Brooklyn at the mouth of the Hudson River (Figure 1.1). The northeastern 

portion of the island is a designated National Historic Landmark District 

containing the National Monument property and numerous other historic 

resources relating to nineteenth and twentieth-century military operations 

(Figure 1.2). Governors Island National Monument includes Castle Williams and 

Fort Jay, the island's most prominent historic resources. Castle Williams, a 

circular, casemated fortification, sits at the northwest corner of Governors 

Island, just feet from the water's edge, overlooking Manhattan, the Statue of 

Liberty, Ellis Island, New Jersey, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Fort Jay, a modified 

star-fort, is located near the center of the National Historic Landmark District, 

surrounded by portions of the historic glacis that has been used more recently as 

a parade ground and golf course. Several twentieth-century buildings and 

parking lots are included in the National Monument boundary, as are vegetative 

features and circulation patterns established by the twentieth-century. 

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 

Native Americans of the Manhattan area, a sub-group of the Munsee Delaware 

tribe, used Governors Island, or what was originally known as Pagganack, as a 

seasonal fishing camp. They sold the island to the governor general of New 

Amsterdam, Wouter Van Twiller, in 1637, who was sent to oversee the Dutch 

West India Company’s commercial endeavor in North America. Van Twiller 

purchased the island for his private interests and Pagganck and the rest of his 

personal holdings reverted back to the Dutch West India Company upon his 

return to the Netherlands in 1642. Beginning in 1664, the British were the next 

European power to govern the northeastern United States. They recognized the 

island's strategic value during the French and Indian War and, in 1755, their 

soldiers became the first military troops stationed on the island. However, it 

wasn’t until the American Revolution when the first substantial defensive 

elements were constructed on the island, beginning with earthen fortifications 

built by Colonial soldiers to fend off a British attack. Their efforts proved futile in 

the face of the British attack on New York City in 1776. After the Colonial defeat, 

the British occupied the island for the remainder of the conflict. From this point 

onward Governors Island served almost continuously as a military installation. 

After the Revolutionary War, Governors Island was briefly abandoned, only to be 

later integrated as a component of the First System of New York harbor defenses 

in 1794. The First System, funded by the federal government, involved the 
INTRODUCTION

 

3 

construction of fortifications at several key harbors along the eastern seaboard. 

Fort Jay was constructed over the ruins of Governors Island's former 

fortifications, which were built largely from earth and vegetative materials. It 

stood on the highest point of the island, approximately in the center, and 

commanded sweeping views of the harbor after many trees were cleared. Later 

improvements, ordered by Congress during the Second System of harbor 

defenses in the early 1800s, resulted in the reconstruction and strengthening of 

Fort Jay and the construction of a new all-masonry circular fort, Castle Williams. 

These two structures and other Second System forts including South Battery, 

constructed prior to the War of 1812 on the east side of Governors Island, Castle 

Clinton off the southern tip of Manhattan, and Fort Wood, which is now the base 

of the Statue of Liberty, provided strategic coverage of the upper New York 

Harbor. 

In the nineteenth century, the Army continued to expand the infrastructure on 

Governors Island to support additional personnel, military stores, and 

administrative functions. The island’s fortifications became increasing obsolete 

during the mid-to-late 1800s due to advances in military technology and the 

Army began to construct buildings on the open lawn and parade ground. This 

trend of changing land use and spatial organization continued into the late 1800s 

when Governors Island was designated as an administrative center for the Army's 

eastern command. 

An additional 103 acres were added to the island in 1911, created with fill from 

the excavation of the New York City subway. Military activities continued to 

alter the island through the construction of an airstrip, temporary barracks and 

warehouses during the global wars of the twentieth century. Recreational 

facilities were constructed, including a polo field, golf course, and tennis courts. 

The Army continued to develop permanent facilities to support the island's 

expanding population through the end of their occupation of the island. 

The Army vacated the island in 1966, relinquishing control to the Coast Guard, 

who maintained the island as an active base until 1996. The Coast Guard also 

altered the landscape to suit their needs by demolishing World War II-era 

buildings and adding contemporary, high-rise barracks to increase housing 

capacity. 

The Coast Guard consolidated their New York operations in 1996 and vacated 

the island, leaving a small caretaking crew to maintain the mothballed base. On 

his last days in office in 2001, President William J. Clinton established Governors 

Island National Monument to protect and preserve the approximately twentytwo acres containing the historic forts of the island. The remainder of the island 

was transferred to the city and state of New York in 2003 to be managed by a 

public benefit corporation called the Governors Island Preservation and 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

4 

Education Corporation, or GIPEC. The National Park Service and GIPEC took 

over joint management and caretaking duties of their respective properties in 

2003. Ownership of the island was transferred solely to New York City in 2010 

and GIPEC was reorganized and renamed the Trust for Governors Island. 

SCOPE OF WORK AND METHODOLOGY 

The cultural landscape report for Governors Island includes three primary 

sections, a site history, a review of existing conditions, and a landscape analysis 

and evaluation. The site history documents broad changes made to the landscape 

from Native American habitation to the present day. Information regarding 

physical changes made during times of peace and during times of military conflict 

is presented. Additionally, the site history addresses the evolution of the island’s 

landform - its expansion from a small rocky island into the 172 acres that exist 

today - and associated land use changes. While the most detailed information is 

presented about features found within the National Monument boundary, the 

history of the entire island has been presented to provide an understanding of the 

island’s evolution in its entirety and the larger context for the National 

Monument property. 

The site history was researched and written at a level of investigation consistent 

with that of “Thorough Historical Research,” as defined by “A Guide to Cultural 

Landscape Reports: Contents, Processes and Techniques. - Landscape Lines #2 

Levels of Investigation.” This included the use of readily available primary and 

secondary sources. Research was undertaken at the National Archives in College 

Park, Maryland and the Center for Military History in Carlisle, Virginia. The 

project team sought narrative and graphic information from the Library of 

Congress, the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and the 

Museum of the City of New York. Primary research was synthesized with 

secondary source material, notably the recently completed historic structures 

reports for Castle Williams and Fort Jay and the Historic Resource Study for the 

National Monument. Findings are presented as a narrative containing supporting 

graphics. The site history narrative is subdivided into historical periods that 

coincide with significant events such as the purchase or sale of the property, or 

the beginning and end of an important period of landscape stewardship. 

Documentation of existing landscape conditions is accomplished through 

narrative text, photographs, and graphic plans. Plan documentation is based on 

the best currently available survey information supplied by the park and by onsite observation. The island’s structures are referenced to the park's List of 

Classified Structures (LCS), but the primary emphasis is placed on documenting 

landscape conditions. Contemporary site functions, visitor services, 
INTRODUCTION

 

5 

interpretation, park operations, and maintenance are described to the degree 

they influence the treatment of the landscape. 

The analysis and evaluation of the Governors Island National Monument 

landscape evaluates the site’s historical significance using criteria determined by 

the National Register of Historic Places program. A discussion of the landscape’s 

integrity is included to determine whether current conditions reflect the site’s 

appearance during the period of significance. Additionally, the landscape 

evaluation draws on the findings of the site history and existing conditions 

components of this report to identify landscape characteristics and associated 

features that contribute to the historic character of the National Monument. This 

section is organized using seven landscape characteristics, including views and 

vistas, spatial organization, land use, circulation, vegetation, buildings and 

structures, and small scale features. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

6

Figure 1.1. Governors Island and surrounding New York Harbor (OCLP, 2002).
7

INTRODUCTION

Fort Jay

Parade Ground

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

East River

Covered Defile Flagstaff

Evans Road

Andes Road

Carder Road

Colonels’ Row

Andes Road

Hay Road Kimball Road

Comfort Road

Liggett Hall

Division Road

d

Earlybird Road

Wheeler Road

King Avenue

Owasco Road

Cartigan Road

Clayton Avenue

Soissons Dock

Ferry Slip

Building 140

Building 107

Dock 102

Buildings 513 A, B, C

Building 251

Tampa Road

Figure 1.2. Governors Island National Historic Landmark District encompasses the northern portion of the island (outlined in blue). 

Governors Island National Monument is contained within the landmark district (outlined in red). Not to scale (OCLP, 2008).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

8
SITE HISTORY

9 

PRE-HISTORY TO 1783 

NATIVE AMERICAN AND EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT 

The Manhattan people, part of the northern Delaware tribal group, called 

Governors Island “Pagganck” in a reference to the abundant nut trees established 

on the island.1

 It is unclear from archeological investigation whether they used 

the island for hunting and gathering or if they established permanent settlements 

and engaged in agricultural pursuits.2

 However, being so near to settled sites on 

Manhattan and Long Island made the island a likely place to fish and gather 

shellfish and nuts. 

European contact with Native American groups in the area began in 1524 during 

Giovanni da Verrazano’s exploration of New York Harbor for the French 

government. The French were followed by the Dutch who sent Henry Hudson to 

North America in search of a water route to Asia in 1609. Hudson did not find the 

elusive “northwest passage,” but did report finding plentiful natural resources 

including timber and animal furs. Impressed with his discovery, the Dutch, under 

the auspices of the Dutch West India Company, sent a ship to scout the North 

American coast for an appropriate settlement in 1621, first landing on Pagganck, 

which they translated to Nutten Island.3

 This fledgling group was soon followed 

by several families who were part of a larger community of Walloons from 

Belgium recruited by the Dutch West India Company to populate company 

settlements in the Hudson River valley.4

 Yet, the first European settlement of 

Nutten Island was short-lived as the families soon moved to Manhattan in search 

of more land and better protection from hostile Native American groups.5

 

Documented improvements to the island were first recorded in the mid-1620s. 

The earliest known depiction of Governors Island appears on a 1639 map of New 

York Harbor that documents dwellings, outbuildings, fortifications, and mills 

throughout what is now known as Manhattan, Brooklyn, western Long Island, 

Staten Island, and eastern New Jersey (Figure 2.1).6

 As shown, Manhattan was the 

most densely populated area at the time, though diffuse settlements appeared 

throughout the region, hugging the shoreline. Among the scattered outlying 

development was a windmill on Nutten Island, labeled as belonging to van 

Twiller. Wouter van Twiller was the governor of New Amsterdam and the 

director of the Dutch West India Company in 1639 who purchased Nutten Island 

in 1637 for his personal use. He owned the land for five years until returning to 

Holland in 1642. His use of the island has been speculated about at length and 

includes reports that he built a house, raised animals, and cultivated the land. 

However, documentary and archeological evidence uncovered to date only 

suggests the presence of the windmill built in the 1620s (Figure 2.2).7

 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

10 

Nutten Island resided midway between the southern tip of Manhattan and a spit 

of land on the west shore of Brooklyn, now known as Red Hook. The shore line 

was irregular with several inlets cut into its perimeter. Although the size of the 

island seems out of scale compared with depictions on later historical maps, the 

1639 map appears to reflect the extents of the island at low tide. The shore would 

have been a mix of rocks and sand, backed by steep bluffs. Although no 

vegetation is shown on the 1639 map, it is likely that Nutten Island was covered in 

mature hardwood trees, as its name reflects, and as was typical of the majority of 

land on the eastern seaboard at the onset of European settlement.8

 

After van Twiller returned to Holland, Nutten Island was transferred to the 

Dutch West India Company for use by the governor generals, ending the only 

period of private ownership in the island’s history. Little documentation exists 

about the activities occurring on the island for the remainder of the Dutch 

occupation of New Amsterdam, outside of an account of Governor Wilhelm 

Kieft leasing some acreage for tobacco cultivation. 

Fellow colonial power, England, set its sights on controlling the northeast region 

of North America by the mid-1600s. Unable to compete with Britain’s superior 

naval strength, Holland surrendered control of New Amsterdam in a bloodless 

exchange in 1664, giving up all rights to their holdings in the northeast. Under 

proxy British rule, administered by the New York colonial legislature, population 

and development increased from the low levels sustained during Dutch control.9

 

The legislature offered Nutten Island to the royal governors for their personal 

use, establishing the island as a private retreat for New York’s political rulers.10 

Reportedly, British Governor Lord Cornbury built a house on the island circa 

1702, although no evidence of the structure remains.11 Several decades later, 

Governor Cosby chose to use the island as a preserve to breed pheasants for 

hunting.12 Despite the recreational uses of the governors, the period was likely 

characterized by limited human intervention, resulting in a rugged, natural 

shoreline and abundant native vegetation. 

One documented interruption to the secluded, private use of the island occurred 

in 1710 when it was used as a temporary quarantine station. A group of Palatines, 

German Protestant refugees being resettled from London, were housed on the 

island for the summer. Their numbers, which had already been reduced by 

disease on the arduous sea journey, dwindled further after reaching New York 

where many more died and were buried on Governors Island.13 No documentary 

or archeological evidence has been found to date to suggest that permanent 

structures were built to house the refugees so the footprint from their occupation 

may have been slight. Tents and temporary shelters were easily removed, leaving 

a limited impact on the landscape outside of felled trees and burial sites. 
SITE HISTORY

11 

GOVERNORS ISLAND AS A DEFENSIVE POST 

Colonial warfare was a near constant threat for Great Britain, as the Crown 

sought to protect and expand British interests in North America. Conflict with 

France, actual and imagined, led Colonial officials to consider fortifying New 

York Harbor as early as 1741. Governor Clarke advocated for the construction of 

defensive works in an address to the New York Legislature: “There is great cause 

to apprehend a speedy rupture with France. Your situation ought therefore to 

awaken you to see the importance of erecting batteries in proper places... and 

one at Red Hook to prevent the enemy landing upon Governor’s [sic] Island.”14 

Although no timely action was taken to fortify Red Hook, the more immediate 

response to preventing an enemy landing on Governors Island was to use the 

island as a garrison. The first military encampment on the island occurred in 

1755, during the last conflict of Britain’s seven year war with France, now known 

as the French and Indian War. Little documentation or physical remains exist to 

suggest the layout, size, or character of the encampment. The scant remains 

suggest that it was temporary in nature with tents or other impermanent shelters 

used to house the troops. 

The physical appearance of the island is better documented beginning in 1766. 

Several plans of the harbor were produced in that year showing development on 

Governors Island, some of which may date to the military encampment during 

the French and Indian War (Figures 2.3 and 2.4). Several built features are 

consistently depicted on period imagery, including the presence of a geometric 

fort or building near the center of the island, several earthworks surrounding the 

fort, especially to the north and west, and land manipulated for a wharf on the 

east side of the island, facing Buttermilk Channel. It appears that a channel was 

dug through the steep bluff near the wharf to create a level docking area and to 

create a navigable road up to the fort. This also may have been created to provide 

a depressed path where soldiers would be protected from enemy fire by the 

earthen sidewalls. 

A series of informal earthworks, or water batteries, were located around the 

perimeter of the island. These raised earth structures were built to provide a 

platform from which to skip projectiles across the surface of the water to impact 

the hulls of ships. The main fort stood at an advantageous elevation atop a 

regularly-shaped mound of earth with steeply sloping sides and unobstructed 

views. Much of the island was cleared of forest growth, though a few solitary tree 

specimens stood along the island’s perimeter. 

At this time, Governors Island’s shoreline was irregular and craggy due to 

weathering from waves and wind (Figure 2.5). The beach was a combination of 

rocks and sand backed by steep bluffs. Though the island’s use was primarily 

military, period imagery shows the citizenry milling leisurely about the beach, 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

12 

illustrating that it was also used as a pleasure ground to those who could find 

water transportation. 

In 1766, plans were drawn for proposed fortifications on Governors Island, likely 

to enhance the existing rudimentary fortification. One design by British engineer 

John Montresor called for a square fortress and moat at the center of the island 

(Figure 2.6). Montresor’s plan used the same location as the existing geometric 

fort and may have been planned to encompass a portion of the extant 

infrastructure. He drew a detailed cross section of the dry moat, masonry fort 

walls, and sloped glacis designed to surround the main fortification (Figure 2.7). 

Smaller water batteries were planned for the four sides of the island. Montressor 

designed four roads radiating from the corners of the central fort to the outskirts 

of the island. These may have been intended to be covered defiles, or depressed 

walkways built to provide coverage from enemy artillery. Yet despite a plea made 

by the British colonial government in 1774 to appropriate funding for 

Montressor’s plans, the fortifications were never built.15 

REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

Conflict in the North American colonies first broke out in Boston, Massachusetts 

and spread across New England in 1775 and early 1776. In the winter of 1776, 

Continental generals and strategists foresaw that the battle would soon be for 

control of New York City, the largest port and commercial center in the colonies. 

Colonial General George Washington understood that the British sought control 

of New York and the Hudson River in hopes of splitting the colonies to sever 

lines of communication and hinder the transfer of goods. Washington was also 

aware of the difficulty of defending a city surrounded by water with essentially no 

navy.16 As a reminder of British naval might, several warships had been moored in 

New York’s inner harbor and only retreated to the outer harbor in early April.17 

Washington sent General Charles Lee, one of his most experienced officers, to 

New York to begin preparing a defensive plan. 

Lee quickly recognized the challenges in defending New York from the world’s 

most formidable navy. The many channels and rivers surrounding Manhattan, 

Brooklyn, Long Island, and Staten Island created prime opportunities for a naval 

offensive. Lee reflected, “What to do with this City, I own puzzles me, it is so 

encircled with deep navigable water, that whoever commands the Sea must 

command the Town.”18 A map of the inner harbor produced in 1776 illustrates 

Lee’s predicament (Figure 2.8). Vast stretches of open water separated key land 

masses, making the selection of advantageous defensive posts essential to 

withstanding a naval attack. 
SITE HISTORY

13 

Fort Stirling was built on the tall bluffs of Brooklyn Heights overlooking the East 

River. Eight cannon were mounted in the fort, which was expected to provide 

coverage of the approximately one mile wide East River and Manhattan because 

of its height advantage and sweeping views of the inner harbor.19 On the other 

side of the harbor, the mouth of the Hudson was almost two miles wide, which 

was out of range for even the most powerful guns of the era. 

Protecting Long Island was paramount to initial campaign planning for the 

Brooklyn Heights defenses. Four additional forts were built in Brooklyn to 

safeguard Fort Stirling and the Heights: Fort Greene, Fort Putnam, Fort Box, and 

lastly, Fort Defiance, which sat on the shores of Red Hook, across Buttermilk 

Channel from Governors Island.20 On Manhattan, guns were placed at Old Fort 

George near the battery and all streets that terminated on the East or Hudson 

Rivers were barricaded with timbers to stymie a land assault.21 

Governors Island was viewed as a key defensive position. Its location as the 

closest of the inner harbor islands to Manhattan and Brooklyn made fortifying 

the island a strategic imperative. Benjamin Franklin wrote about the island’s 

prominent setting and recommended creating defensive works fortified with six 

guns.22 General Lee supported Franklin’s assessment and organized civilian work 

crews from Manhattan to begin digging fortifications in April 1776.23 

After the British fleet evacuated Boston in the spring of 1776, Washington sent 

much of the Continental Army to New York in anticipation of the next significant 

battle. The entrenchments begun on Governors Island were improved by the 

arrival of Colonial General Israel Putnam and one thousand soldiers from 

Boston.24 Construction of the fortifications continued over three months. Heavyhanded earth moving projects undoubtedly altered the natural topography and 

vegetation around the fortifications. Many trees were removed to provide 

uninterrupted fields of fire and for firewood for the encamped troops (Figure 

2.9). A surviving farmhouse and barn were razed for the same purpose.25 Yet, as 

shown in period illustrations, the island was not cleared of all vegetation. A 

sketch drawn by a British officer in 1776 shows most of Governors Island’s 

fortifications obscured by vegetation (Figure 2.10). 

Historic maps depict several fortifications on the island in 1776 and though 

discrepancies exist between the available maps, a fair picture of the 

Revolutionary fortifications can be synthesized through their comparison. 

Similar to earthworks erected during the French and Indian War, a series of 

water batteries surrounded the island along the shoreline (Figure 2.11). Likewise, 

an earthen fortification stood near the center of the island at the highest 

elevation. In what appears to be a new feature, an additional raised battery was 

built on the northwest corner of the island and connected to the central 

fortification by a covered defile (Figure 2.12). Along with the defensive works, the 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

14 

island hosted a temporary garrison of one thousand soldiers. Tents, latrines, and 

weapons storage would have been located around the island, most probably 

south and east of the central fort. 

Despite Lee’s apprehension about the tenuous Colonial control of New York, 

General Washington felt bolstered by the strength of the Governors Island 

fortifications. He wrote to Lee, “In a fortnight more I think the city will be in a 

very respectable position of defense. Governors Island has a large and strong 

work erected and a regiment encamped there.”26 However, Washington’s 

optimism faded as the British engaged the Colonial positions. Testing the waters, 

several British ships sailed into the inner harbor along the unfortified Staten 

Island shore in July 1776. The Colonials fired on them unsuccessfully from Fort 

George in present day southern Manhattan, Red Hook, and Governors Island.27 

British sailor Stephen Kembal witnessed the action and reported: “Observe the 

Rebels have fortified Governor’s Island very strongly... About half after three in 

the Afternoon His Majesty’s Ship Phoenix... and the Rose... with the Tryal 

Schooner and two Tenders got under sail to pass the Town of New York.... They 

received the whole of the Rebel fire from Red Hook, Governor’s Island, the 

Battery and from some Guns in the Town.”28 

Although one of the ships was damaged in the exchange, the Colonial positions 

were not effectively placed to stop their progress past Manhattan and up the 

Hudson to Haverstraw Bay. 

Although they had successfully passed through the Colonial defenses and 

traveled north up the Hudson, the British fleet stayed moored in the lower 

harbor awaiting reinforcements. There, they waited through the month of July 

and into August, amassing scores of warships and thousands of British and 

Hessian troops. In the interim, Washington divided his force between 

Manhattan, Long Island, Brooklyn, and Governors Island, not knowing where 

the British land assault would begin.29 He planned to use the East River as the 

main transportation route should his forces in Brooklyn and Long Island need to 

retreat or be repositioned. Old ships were sunk at the mouth of the East River 

near Governors Island to ensure that only small Colonial boats could navigate the 

waters between southern Manhattan and Brooklyn Heights.30

On August 22, 1776, 15,000 British and Hessian troops crossed the Narrows from 

Staten Island and marched north toward Brooklyn. Five thousand more troops 

joined them several days later. The British encamped for a few days before 

advancing toward the defensive lines in Brooklyn, where after a six hour assault, 

they overwhelmed the Colonial forces. Facing entrapment, Washington ordered 

a covert retreat of 9,000 men, guns, horses, and equipment across the East River 

on the night of August 29. Almost all of the Colonials, including the troops 

stationed at Governors Island, had evacuated to Manhattan by the next day when 
SITE HISTORY

15 

the British fired on the few retreating men. A Colonial officer wrote about the 

night of the retreat; “We have evacuated Governor’s Island where we have lost 

some cannon. They fired smartly from Fort Stirling yesterday at our boats passing 

from Governor’s Island.”31 

Though the retreat from the Battle of Long Island took the British by surprise and 

was considered organized and successful, a measure of disorder accompanied the 

hasty withdrawal. As reported by a New York resident: “The rebels in their hurry 

and consternation upon abandoning Long Island left the garrison upon Nutten 

Island (which they had strongly fortified) consisting of 2000 men, 40 pieces of 

heavy cannon, military stores and provisions in abundance without the least 

means of quitting the island.”32 

While the troops on Governors Island were evacuating with whatever provisions 

and guns they could transport, four British ships sailed into the harbor, about two 

miles south of Governors Island and began a bombardment on the retreating 

forces. In what appears to be a strategic error, the British ships were moored too 

far away from the island and their fire did little damage.33 A Hessian officer 

described the retreat: “After having vacated everything except an island one 

English mile long, called Governor’s Island, on which four hundred 

Pennsylvanians were encamped, have now embarked these men, too, in spite of a 

battle thrown up in front of us, and taken them to New York on small vessels 

under cover of a two-master frigate. We sank only two of these boats. They 

carried no more than about forty men, but these perished miserably.”34

The Americans continued their retreat across Manhattan and into New Jersey in 

October 1776, after which New York City remained occupied by the British for 

the duration of the war. As indicated on period maps, Hessian troops encamped 

on Governors Island until the end of the conflict. 

Fortuitously, a surviving piece of documentary evidence provides great insight to 

the character of Governors Island after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War 

in 1783. This correspondence from the vacating British officer, Captain Duncan, 

to the American Governor of New York, combined with a map created in 1782 

help describe the changes made to the landscape during the British occupation. 

Duncan listed fifteen buildings and structures on the island for the purpose of 

surrendering the keys. Included in the inventory was a wharf, a twelve-foot deep 

well and associated pump, the Captain’s kitchen, cellar and well, a cattle barn, a 

gardener’s house, a hospital and its associated well, a guard house, two officers’ 

barracks, a kitchen, and a summer house. Many of the structures are depicted on 

the 1782 map (Figure 2.13). Several are clustered inside the central fort, which 

appears as an irregular star shape. One building appears inside the battery 

northeast of the central fort and a geometric cluster of four buildings is located in 

an unfortified location east of the central fort. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

16 

One of the most prominent features highlighted on the map is manipulated 

topography. Mounded earth surrounding the central fort is clearly evident. A 

high, flat plateau extended east of the central fort with steep slopes to the north 

and east and more gradual slopes to the south. The island was surrounded by an 

extensive system of water batteries located near the high tide mark. Faint lines are 

visible on the map throughout the island, which may represent fence lines or 

narrow earthen walls. These may have been part of the defensive system or may 

have simply delineated animal enclosures, gardens, or other instances of 

domestic habitation. 

LANDSCAPE DESCRIPTION IN 1783 

By the end of the Revolutionary War, Governors Island had served as a key 

military post in the fight for control of the busy port town of New York. First 

fortified by the Colonists under General George Washington and later occupied 

by British forces, Governors Island contained fifteen buildings and a central star 

shaped fort by 1783 (Figures 2.14 and 2.15). This fort was characterized by 

carefully designed topography including a high, flat plateau extending east from 

the central fort with steep slopes to the north and east with more gradual slopes 

to the south. Much of the island’s forest had been cleared to provide building 

materials, firewood, and clear lines of sight. The perimeter hosted a natural sand 

and rock beach, backed by steep bluffs. 

Other landscape features reflected the military purpose of the island and its 

recent role in the Revolutionary War. These included an extensive system of 

water batteries surrounding the island, and fences or narrow earthen walls that 

may have delineated part of a military defense system or addressed the domestic 

realities of island life, such as gardens or animal pens. Many of the existing 

features in 1783 were earthen or temporary in nature, constructed in haste and 

out of military necessity, not ready to stand the test of time without significant 

alteration. 

ENDNOTES 

1

 Louis Berger Group, “Archeological Assessment of the proposed guest house site, Third Coast Guard District, 

Governors Island, NY,” 1986, 14. 

2

 Jannelle Warren-Findley, “Governors Island, New York Harbor: A Historic Resource Survey from the Beginning to 

1996,” Final draft, 2007, National Park Service, Northeast Region, 2, citing Darby Moore-Doyle, “Transforming the 

Environment at Governors Island, New York: An Exploration of the Natural History and Cultural Landscape at 

Governors Island National Monument,”

3

 Edmund Banks Smith, Governors Island, Its History Under Three Flags, 1637-1922 (New York: Valentine’s Manual, Inc., 

1923), 9, citing early documents of the Dutch East India Company. 

4

 Correspondence with GOIS Supervisory Park Ranger, Michael B. Shaver, 9.16.2009. 
SITE HISTORY

17 

5

 Warren-Findley, 3-4. 

6

 Ibid., 5. 

7

 Ibid., 6. 

8

 The mill on the 1639 map is not accurately located. Recent archeological investigation has suggested its location on the 

northeast corner of the island, while the map locates the mill on the northwest corner, on the site of present day Castle 

Williams. It is also possible that more than one mill was present on the island. Holly Herbster and James C. Garman, 

Public Archeology Laboratory, “Phase 1B Archeological Survey of Governors Island National Historic Landmark District, 

1997,” 16; and James C. Garman and Paul A. Russo, “Phase II Evaluation of Six Archeological Sites in the Governors Island 

National Historic Landmark District, 1998,” 62-63. 

A debate has circulated for years about the possibility that Buttermilk Channel was at one point so narrow and shallow 

that it could be crossed on foot at low tide. Several historical accounts claim to corroborate this but recent examination of 

the issue suggests otherwise. Accounts from the late 1600s and early 1700s recall wading across the “creek” that was 

“sedge and meadow.” However, by the American Revolution, the British documented that Buttermilk Channel was 

navigable and required safeguarding. It is unlikely that in fifty or one hundred years the channel increased dramatically in 

depth and width to become wide enough for war ships. See Smith, Governors Island, Its History Under Three Flags, pages 

113-114, for a discussion of this issue. 

GOIS Supervisory Park Ranger Michael B. Shaver suggests as a possibility for the confusion that the first-hand accounts 

were mistaken about the location of Governors Island. British military maps from the 1760s and 70s seem to show the Red 

Hook peninsula as being lower; between the west end of the hook and Brooklyn proper, which was a tidal marshland. The 

high ground of the Red Hook, with likely a few hardy or scrub hardwoods above the tide line, could have looked a lot like 

Governors Island. 

9

 Van Zandt, Chronicles of the Hudson, Three Centuries of Traveler’s Accounts, (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University 

Press, 1971) 3-4. 

10 Correspondence with GOIS Supervisory Park Ranger, Michael B. Shaver, 9.16.2009. 

11 Smith, 29. 

12 Ibid., 32. 

13 Warren-Findley, 23. 

14 Smith, 33. 

15 Warren-Findley, 26-27, citing Jim Davis, “The Tentative Rebels: New York City during the First Year of the 

Revolution,” http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2003_summer_fall/NYC2.htm#_ftn58 

16 David McCullough, 1776 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005), 117. 

17 McCullough, 119. 

18 Letter of February 19, 1776 from Charles Lee to George Washington; Lee Papers; p. 309, New York Historical Society, as 

appearing in Jim Davis, “The Tentative Rebels: New York City During the First Year of the Revolution,” 

http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2003_summer_fall/NYC2.htm#_ftn58 

19 McCullough, 126. 

20 Ibid., 127-128. 

21 Ibid., 128. 

22 Anastastio Carlos M. Azoy, “Three Centuries Under Three Flags: The Story of Governors Island from 1637 to 1951,” 

New York: Headquarters, first Army, 1951, p. 22, original source not noted. 

23 Azoy, 22. 

24 Warren-Findley, 13. 

25 Azoy, 23. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

18 

26 McCullough, 128. 

27 Azoy, 24. 

28 Smith, 41. 

29 Warren-Findley, 15. 

30 McCullough, 153. 

31 Letter from Colonel William Douglas to his wife, August 31, 1776, in Smith, 44. 

32 Report from New York resident Thomas Jones, in History of New York During the Revolutionary War (New York: The 

New York Times and Arno Press, 1968; orig. ed, 1879), 113. 

33 Ibid. 

34 Quoted in NYCLPC Report, Governors Island Historic District, 1996, 10, as cited in Warren-Findley, 33. 
19

SITE HISTORY

Figure 2.1. Manatus Map, 1639 (Library of Congress, “Manatus Gelegen op de Noot Rivier, 

Vinckenboons, Joan, 1639, #G3291.S12 collH3 vault: Harr vol 3, map 12).

Figure 2.2. Manatus Map, 1639. The island labeled 34 in the center of the image is Governors Island. 

A windmill is the only improvement shown on the island, contrasting with the depiction of houses 

and barns in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the eastern New Jersey shore (Library of Congress, “Manatus 

Gelegen op de Noot Rivier, Vinckenboons, Joan, 1639, #G3291.S12 collH3 vault: Harr vol 3, map 12).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

20

Figure 2.3. Enlargement of John Montresor’s plan of Governors Island, 1766. A fort located on high 

ground is depicted in the center of the island, ringed on the west side by earthworks. The wharf 

area is also shown on this plan, located on the east side of the island (Library of Congress, “Plan 

of Governor’s, Kennedy’s, and Brown’s Islands and Red Hook together with part of the Bay and 

Soundings, shewng the position they bear to each other and to New York,” #G3804.N4P55 1766. M6 

Faden 96).

Figure 2.4. Governors Island, 1766-1767. The main fort in the center of the island is shown on 

this image, as well as raised earthworks northwest of the fort and what appear to be terraced 

earthworks leading down to the wharf area on the southeast side of the island (Library of Congress, 

Bernard Ratzer, Published by Faden and Jefferys, London, January 12, 1776, as in Yocum, Historic 

Structures Report for Fort Jay).
21

SITE HISTORY

Figure 2.5. “A Southwest View of the City of New York taken from Governor’s Island,” 1766-1767 (Brooklyn Historical Society, From a 

plan of the City of New York 1766-1767 by Thomas Kitchen, Published by Jefferys and Faden, V1974.32.3666, Armbruster Collection).

Figure 2.6. Design for Governors Island, 1766 (Library of Congress, John Montresor, 

#G3804.N4:2 G6 1766. M6 Vault).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

22

Figure 2.7. Cross section of proposed fortifi cation walls on Governors Island, 1766 (Library of Congress, “Designs for fortifying Governors 

Island near New York,” John Montresor, 1766, #G3804 N4:2G6 M61 Vault).

Figure 2.8. Map of New York Harbor, c 

1776. Maps like these were produced 

to measure distances between 

landforms and fortifi cations, to aid 

battle planning (Library of Congress, 

“Sketch of New York, Narrows, and 

Part of Long Island with the Roads,” 

1776, #G3804.N4A1 1776. S5 Vault).
23

SITE HISTORY

Figure 2.9. View of the Harbor, including Governors Island, 1776. This view, taken from Brooklyn depicts Continental troops drilling 

before the Battle of Long Island. Manhattan appears at image right and Governors Island is at image left (Library of Congress, “A View 

of New York, Governor’s Island, the River from Long Island,” Engraved by Pierre Charles Canot, 1776, # USZ62-45417).

Figure 2.10. Governors Island, 1776, after the battle of Long Island (New York Public Library, “An original sketch by an English offi cer of 

Adml. Howe’s Fleet while at anchor in New York Harbor. Battle of Long Island,” #420784). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

24

Figure 2.11. Governors Island after the battle of Long Island, 1776. Fortifi cation walls are shown on the northwest and central areas of 

the island (Library of Congress, detail of “Plan of New York Island,” William Faden, 1776, as in Yocum, “Historic Structures Report for Fort 

Jay, Governors Island National Monument”).

Figure 2.12. Fortifi cations of 

Governors Island, c. 1776 (New York 

State Library, Detail of a map drawn 

by Samuel Holland, as in Yocum, 

“Historic Structures Report for Fort 

Jay, Governors Island National 

Monument”).
25

SITE HISTORY

Figure 2.13. Untitled map, 1782. This map documents some of the features described by the British when they handed over control of 

the island to the Americans in 1783. The central fort, extensive water batteries near the water’s edge, manipulated topography, and 

support structures are all visible (Governors Island, circa 1782, Public Records Offi ce, London, as in Yocum, “Historic Structures Report, 

Fort Jay, Governors Island National Monument”).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

26
Fort Jay

Buttermilk Channel

Upper New York Harbor

Fort Jay

SITE HISTORY

31 

1784-1815 

GOVERNORS ISLAND AND THE FIRST SYSTEM OF COASTAL 

DEFENSE 

After the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, national attention focused on 

forming the necessities of a post-war nation in its infancy, including an elected 

system of government, a national currency, and judicial system. Many things 

were neglected in the post-war rebuilding period, including the Governors Island 

fortifications, where the earthen walls deteriorated without regular maintenance. 

Little is known about activities occurring on the island in the post-war years, 

besides accounts of unfulfilled proposals to subdivide the island or turn it over to 

Columbia College, known today as Columbia University.1

After a decade of scant federal attention devoted to the collective military 

preparedness of the nation’s port cities, Congress appropriated funds for the 

First American System of Coastal Defenses in 1794. Political instability in France 

and a continued military threat from Great Britain prompted the effort. The First 

System was intended to encompass the entire eastern seaboard and create a 

system of defensive works to discourage and repel enemy naval attacks. The 

scope initially included sixteen sites, including New York City, where $12,500 

was appropriated for fortifications on Governors Island, Manhattan, and Paulus 

Hook, near present day Jersey City.2

 

The chosen First System sites, located close to urban centers, responded to the 

military technology of the day. Naval artillery in the late 1700s required close 

range to be effective, necessitating that attacking ships sail into the upper harbor 

in order to strike targets in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Likewise, the land-based 

defensive fortifications needed close range to target enemy ships. Additionally, 

sites close to the city became favored locations for First System fortifications 

because of limited funding. Discussion about the need to fortify the outer harbor 

and the Narrows took place in the state legislature, but appropriations supporting 

such an effort did not materialize.3

 

A congressional report and map from 1794 illustrate the desired outcome for the 

First System of fortifications on Governors Island, including defensive works to 

support twenty-four guns, an ammunition magazine, and a blockhouse or 

barracks, for an estimated cost of $3,737.4

 Secretary of War Henry Knox specified 

building techniques for the works in New York, which included earthen parapets 

(mound of raised earth on top of the fort’s walls) surfaced with knotgrass, 

wooden embrasures (openings for artillery), and well ventilated ammunition 

storage, among other directives.5

 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

32 

The 1794 map illustrates stark differences between the proposed improvements 

on Governors Island and what is known to have existed at the end of the 

Revolutionary War, notably the enlarged size and reconfiguration of the main 

work, or what would be known as Fort Jay (Figure 3.1). The 1794 plan depicted a 

multi-layered fortification at the high point of the island, connected by covered 

defiles to several smaller forts to the south, east, and west. The main fort’s 

proposed exterior walls appear well defined and of uniform slope and thickness, 

contrasting with the hasty entrenchments from earlier decades. Numerous salient 

angles (angles pointing away from the main body of the fort) projected from the 

strong square shape of the fort’s outer walls. No longer shown are the buildings 

inside and outside of the fort from the end of the Revolutionary War. 

Despite thorough planning, New York state officials feared the federal response 

would be insufficient to properly defend New York Harbor and dedicated 

$30,000 of additional state funds in 1794.6

 Indeed, the works completed under 

the umbrella of the First System in New York Harbor were essentially designed, 

managed, and financed by the State of New York with some federal involvement. 

The state’s effort was overseen by a Board of Commissioners of Fortifications, 

including New York’s Governor George Clinton. Clinton enlisted the help of 

French engineer Charles Vincent, the same engineer employed by the federal 

government to design other First System fortifications, to locate defensive works 

in key areas not identified by the federal report.7

 

As early as May 1794, the Board recognized the funding shortfalls that would 

plague their effort, writing: “...but in consideration of the smallness of the means 

in the power of the Board... the Engineer be directed to confine his plan to the 

repair of the old works so as to render them safe against any sudden attempt from 

landing men on board of ships.”8

 

Although the Board wanted to build new works, construction was limited to 

strengthening and modernizing the Revolutionary War era forts. Concessions 

continued to be made throughout the duration of the project in an attempt to stay 

within budget. For example, in 1795 the Board decided to reduce the number of 

the fortifications being faced with masonry in a cost saving measure.9

Of all the sites chosen for New York’s First System fortifications, work began first 

on Governors Island. This was partly due to the fact that the property was owned 

by the State of New York rather than by private citizens, like Ellis Island or both 

banks of the Narrows.10 Another reason for the rapid deployment of a workforce 

to Governors Island was the endorsement of engineer Vincent. He praised the 

location of Governors Island as the most advantageous place to create an 

intersecting field of fire with forts in Manhattan and the east shore of Long Island 

to deter ships from passing through the Narrows.11 
SITE HISTORY

33 

Work on the Governors Island fortifications began in April 1794 using military 

labor. By late April, the Board approved the deployment of civilian work crews, 

including skilled masons, to supplement the labor force.12 Payroll records from 

1794 and 1795 documents a fluctuating work force, ranging between 115 and 250 

laborers depending on the season and the task at hand.13

Massive amounts of earth moving and land manipulation took place between 

1794 and 1796. Board meeting notes from 1795 document, “It being represented 

to the board that in order to erect a stone wall around the Bastion and Curtain of 

the Fortification on Governors Island, it will be necessary to take down between 

10 and 20 feet of the earth.”14 Workers were authorized to remove “trees and all 

movables not necessary for military purposes.”15 This included existing 

structures that did not complement the new strategic plan.16 Also, all livestock 

was removed from the island so as not to interfere with construction.17 

By January 1796, the New York newspaper Greenleaf’s New Daily Advertiser

reported that “Governor’s Island has been fortified with a fort made of earth, and 

two batteries under its protection, partly lined with brick masonry; two air 

furnaces, a large powder magazine, and a barracks for the garrison; the whole 

completed.”18 This represented the apex of First System planning. The next few 

years witnessed a respite in anxiety about attacks from abroad before fear of a 

British invasion began anew around 1798 and work resumed at Governors Island. 

The work completed on Governors Island by the turn-of-the-century was 

substantial, yet fell short of the plan envisioned in 1794. A report dated February 

15, 1802, written by Major D. Wadsworth to Major Jonathan Williams, Inspector 

of Fortifications for the United States Army, provides insight to the condition of 

Fort Jay at the time of inspection. Wadsworth prepared the report to provide 

Williams, the primary engineer of New York’s defensive posts, with a status of 

the fort’s existing condition and recommendations for updating the structure for 

battle readiness. He described a twelve-foot-thick timber parapet filled with 

earth, with fifty-one embrasures. The walls were strengthened with pointed sticks 

embedded in the ground to deter a ground assault. The fort was accessed by a 

main gate with a guardhouse as well as a “sally port,” or a tunnel cut underneath 

the fort’s walls. Barracks buildings and a timber blockhouse were documented 

inside the fort. 19 Though their exact locations are undocumented, the state paid 

for the construction of two arsenal buildings in 1798.20 

Fort Jay was complemented by two detached batteries to the west and southwest 

(Figure 3.2). Views between the fortifications would have been unobstructed by 

vegetative growth, as the remaining native vegetation from the Revolutionary 

period had been removed in the construction effort. The state paid local farmers 

to cut hay and maintain the copious amounts of grass on the fort’s glacis (an 

artificial slope built in front of fortification walls) and outlying area.21 The 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

34 

flagstaff at Fort Jay, erected in 1797, would have been visible from a great distance 

due to the fort’s height and the denuded landscape.22 

The wharf area was located east of Fort Jay, in line with the fort’s main gate and 

sally port. The state paid to have the wharf built in 1797, possibly in the same 

location as earlier wharves or landing sites.23 It is likely that several outbuildings 

were located near the wharf to provide support services to the troops stationed 

on the island, perhaps including stables, kitchens, outhouses, and blacksmith and 

carpentry sheds. 

Along with Major Wadsworth’s detailed description of Fort Jay’s attributes in 

1802, he offered his opinion that the fort was “Not capable of any defense in its 

present state.”24 He listed deficiencies in the fort’s level of completeness but more 

importantly, described problems with the design and location of the fort that 

made it an undesirable defensive post. In his words, “I conceive the Plan of Fort 

Jay, in respect to the natural advantages and disadvantages of the ground to be 

nearly the worst which could have been adopted.”25 

This radical departure from the almost universally complimentary opinion of 

previous military planners may reflect the changing status of weaponry and 

military technology in the early 1800s. Wadsworth cited the island’s low elevation 

compared to nearby landforms in Brooklyn as a deficiency, making the fort 

susceptible to capture if posts in Brooklyn fell into enemy hands. In this scenario, 

the guns at Fort Jay could then be turned against the city of New York. 

Additionally, Wadsworth argued that Governors Island was not a viable site from 

which to launch a major defensive strike because of its distance from the lower 

harbor, which was now being viewed as an essential target due to advances in 

naval artillery. Of the deficiencies that could be addressed, Wadsworth cited the 

need to finish gun platforms, the counterscarp (the angled, outer wall of the 

defensive ditch dug around the fortification), drawbridge, and the banquet of the 

parapet (a step built into the raised bed of the fort’s walls from which soldiers can 

fire weapons). 

Perhaps Wadsworth’s criticism of the strategic value of Governors Island was 

ahead of its time. In spite of Wordsworth’s concerns, the Secretary of War 

authorized Fort Jay to be strengthened with masonry materials in 1806.26 It is 

likely Wadsworth’s remarks went unheeded because of the increased tension 

with England and the inevitable military build-up that followed. 

THE SECOND SYSTEM OF HARBOR DEFENSE 

Major Jonathan Williams, Inspector of Fortifications, was charged with 

implementing a comprehensive plan for upgrading New York’s harbor defenses 

in 1807 as part of a federal program to reexamine the coastal defenses of the 
SITE HISTORY

35 

eastern seaboard. Known as the Second System, this ambitious effort sought to 

create a comprehensive system of harbor defenses, designed by American 

engineers, employing more standardized and advanced construction techniques 

and materials. Though the design of Second System forts varied, a typical 

characteristic was their all masonry construction, which afforded greater 

protection for soldiers and guns than earthen fortifications. Masonry 

construction also allowed for multiple floors of guns to be stacked on top of each 

other, mimicking the stacked armament of contemporary war ships, to provide 

greater firing range.27 

Williams took detailed measurements of distances between existing defensive 

works and areas that had not yet been fortified throughout the harbor. 

Deficiencies in American Revolutionary-era defenses were examined, notably the 

undefended distance between fortifications on the east side of the upper harbor 

and the New Jersey shore that allowed the British to sail up the Hudson River 

undeterred, as well as the lack of defenses at the Narrows.28 Williams’ report 

resulted in the construction of numerous new forts and the modification of 

several existing ones in New York, including Fort Richmond and Fort Tompkins 

on the Staten Island side of the Narrows, Fort Hendricks on the Long Island side 

of the Narrows, Fort Wood on Beldoe’s Island (now Liberty Island), Fort Gibson 

on Ellis Island, and Castle Clinton at the tip of Manhattan.29 

Williams also spent time examining the strategic value of Governors Island, 

despite Wadsworth’s unfavorable report of 1802. He measured distances from 

the island to several points in Brooklyn, the East River, and Manhattan, 

indicating that Governors Island provided strategic coverage of the east side of 

the upper harbor (Figure 3.3). At Williams’ direction, modification of Fort Jay 

occurred to replace the “salt marsh sod” defensive walls with masonry and to add 

a ravelin (a work in the shape of an acute angle that projects from the main walls 

of a fort) on the north wall of the fort.30 New barracks buildings and a new well 

were added to the interior of the fort, while several trees in the courtyard 

remained because they did not interfere with gun placement.31 Secretary of War 

Dearborn described the changes in 1809: “Fort Jay... with the whole of its 

buildings, was demolished in 1806, except the walled counterscarp, the gate, 

sallyport, magazine, and two barracks; all the rest was removed as rubbish, to give 

place for a work composed of durable materials. On the site of the old fort, a new 

one has been erected, of the same shape...”32 

It is likely that much of the earth, timber, and sod removed from the original 

fortification was spread across the surface of the island, perhaps leveling low 

spots and contributing to the uniform slope of the glacis. Williams wrote about 

the ongoing construction of the glasis in 1808. “The Glasis has not been sodded 

to its full extent owing to the want of sod, but it will be all found with grass seed 

before Spring, when it will probably appear like a luxuriant lawn.33 He boasted 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

36 

that the glacis: “...commanded the whole end of the East River...the opposite 

extreme at the SW entrance of the Buttermilk Channel...extends to the water’s 

edge and forms a compleat [sic] command of this part of the Harbour, except 

only where it is interrupted by the circular Castle.”34 

The circular castle mentioned by Williams referred to a new fortification begun 

in 1807 to provide more effective coverage of the Narrows and the mouth of the 

Hudson River. The new fort, initially known as the stone tower, was designed to 

be a “circular casemated battery... to be located on the extreme westerly point 

commonly called Perkin’s Point.”35 Perkin’s Point was a small projection of land 

almost detached from Governors Island, bounded on three sides by the rugged 

natural shoreline. Williams described Perkins Point in a draft report to the 

Secretary of War in 1808: “At the Western extremity of Governors Island there is 

a Point of Rocks which runs to the edge of the Channel extending about eighty 

yards without the Beach, the space within being bare only [at] a very low Water. 

On this Base which was found to be a Bed of red Clay crowded with large & very 

hard Rocks & Stone the foundation of a circular Castle was begun.”36 

Williams designed a round structure, open on its southwest side facing Fort Jay, 

with smooth, red sandstone exterior walls. The fort was massively constructed 

with eight-foot-thick walls at the base. It reached a height of forty feet with four 

tiers of armament stacked in the three-story building. Semi-circular openings, or 

embrasures, in the fort walls provided space for cannon, which numbered more 

than 100.37 Boulders piled against the base of the fort protected the sandstone 

walls from direct tidal action on the three sides that projected into the harbor. 

The only access to the fort was by foot through a gate on the southeast side. 

When complete, Castle Williams was widely considered the strongest and bestarmed fortification in the harbor.38 

In 1809, Williams directed the construction of a key feature to connect the two 

forts, a covert defile. He described creating the defile from the dismantled 

earthworks outside Fort Jay, which had been renamed Fort Columbus by this 

date:39 “There are two Breastworks of Earth in Front of the old Fort, which have 

not been removed, it being thought unnecessary to destroy them till the Castle is 

finished, least the Earth of which they are composed should be wanted at that 

height for the proposed covered defile.”40 

The path’s tall, mounded earth sidewalls allowed troops and equipment to travel 

safely between the forts while under fire. This was a necessary feature because 

there was no longer any vegetative cover between the two forts, only a 

purposefully open landscape. 

A final defensive work, named South Battery, was added to the southeast side of 

the Governors Island landscape in 1812 to provide water-level coverage of 
SITE HISTORY

37 

Buttermilk Channel. The arrow-shaped masonry structure provided a platform 

for thirteen guns along its one-story parapet.41 

Although the glacis and areas around the forts were kept free of obstacles, some 

buildings, vegetation, and landscape features dotted the landscape by the time the 

forts were completed. The encampment of several hundred troops required 

support services and infrastructure, like hospitals, stables, wash houses, barracks, 

a blacksmith shop, and a carpenter shop, all of which are documented on an 1813 

map of the island (Figure 3.4). Most structures were located southeast of the forts 

near the wharf on Buttermilk Channel for ease of loading and unloading supplies 

and equipment and to be outside of the most strategic lines of fire. All were on 

lower ground than Fort Columbus and located several hundred yards off of the 

glacis with the exception of the small “surgeon’s house” near the northeast 

corner of the fort. 

Although formal circulation systems are not depicted on the 1813 plan, several 

tree lines delineated commonly used paths and roads. Woodcut drawings of the 

island from the mid-nineteenth-century depict these tree lines as tall, columnar, 

and evenly spaced, without interlocking canopies. Lombardy Poplars planted in a 

formal row would create this character and are a good estimation of species type. 

The use of these trees in urban plantings became fashionable by the early 

nineteenth century, witnessed by their abundant placement throughout the 

island of Manhattan.42 

The most striking of Governors Island’s tree lines was an alleé lining the road 

between the wharf and Fort Columbus’ main gate. Additionally, a single line of 

trees marked a route between Fort Columbus and the hospital located near South 

Battery. A third tree line traveled along the northern shoreline of the island 

between the wharf and Castle Clinton. The map and woodcut show the shoreline 

of the island as largely natural and unmanipulated with long expanses of sand and 

rock beaches, backed by steep bluffs (Figure 3.5). 

Other notable landscape features on the island in 1813 included a large, 

geometric vegetable garden located midway between Fort Columbus and South 

Battery. The geometric space was subdivided into six, equally sized sub-plots 

with a central aisle running lengthwise. This extensive garden would have been 

large enough to supplement the diet of the resident officers and soldiers. An allée 

of trees lined a path connecting the garden to Fort Columbus’ southeast 

counterscarp wall. 

As depicted on the period map, two cemeteries were located in the vicinity of the 

garden, one adjacent to it on the east side and the other to the southwest, hugging 

the rocky shoreline. The features may have been in use for decades, even dating 

to the island’s use as a quarantine station in the early eighteenth century. Little 

information is known about the cemeteries, and although the one on the 
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38 

southwest shore appears on later maps of the island, the one east of the garden 

disappears from the historical record after 1813. 

By 1812 the modified First System and Second System fortifications on 

Governors Island stood ready to defend New York in tandem with other forts 

around the harbor. Although tension with Great Britain escalated into open 

hostilities and the War of 1812, none of the New York forts fired against the 

British Navy. The British anchored in the lower harbor and blockaded the city for 

the conflict but never attempted to engage the Americans at New York City. 

LANDSCAPE DESCRIPTION IN 1815 

Governors Island’s primary use as a military post continued after the American 

Revolutionary War and through the War of 1812. By 1815, American military 

engineers had transformed the earthen, temporary defensive works left after the 

American Revolution into a more well-defined military landscape (Figures 3.6 

and 3.7). Much of the old Fort Jay, now called Fort Columbus, was demolished 

and incorporated into the new earth and masonry star fort. It was complemented 

by the construction of a state-of-the-art circular masonry fort, Castle Williams. 

Together, these two forts provided strategic coverage of the upper New York 

Harbor. 

The Governors Island landscape reflected the defensive nature of its use. Much 

of the island was kept cleared of large obstructing vegetation to provide open 

views and fields of fire from the forts. Formalized roads and walkways remained 

at a minimum due to the relatively small posting of military personnel on the 

island. However, reminders of the day-to-day life of the soldiers were etched in 

the land. Wash houses, stables, kitchens, two cemeteries, and a garden, located 

far enough away from the strategic fort landscapes, supported the post 

population. Orderly rows of Lombardy poplars were planted as decorative 

elements, marking the road between the main wharf and Fort Columbus’ east 

gate and planted along the northern shoreline. The island’s limited infrastructure 

after the War of 1812 provided the basic framework for the army’s continued and 

increased presence at Governors Island in the coming decades. 

ENDNOTES 

1

 Jannelle Warren-Findley, “Governors Island, New York Harbor: A Historic Resource Survey from the Beginning to 

1996,” Final draft, 2007, National Park Service, Northeast Region, 17. 

2 Frederick Black, “A History of Fort Wadsworth, New York Harbor, Cultural Resources Management Study, no 7,” CW 

Post Center, Long Island University, 1983, 27. 

3

 Black, 31. 
SITE HISTORY

39 

4

 ASP, 3rd Congress, 1st Session, Military Affairs, Vol. 1, pp. 61-62, LC, as cited in Barbara Yocum, “Fort Jay, Historic 

Structures Report, Governors Island National Monument, National Parks of New York Harbor, New York, New York,” 

2005, National Park Service, Historic Architecture Program, Northeast Region, 22. 

5

 Letter from Henry Knox from “Special instructions to Charles Vincent, acting as a temporary Engineer in the service of 

the United States, April 1, 1794, ASP 3rd Congress, 2nd Session, Military Affairs, Vol 1, pp. 77-78, LC, as cited in Yocum, 

Fort Jay HSR, 25. 

6

 Black, 28. 

7

 Ibid. 

8

 “Proceedings of the Commissioners of Fortifications for the City of New York and Its Vicinity, May 12 1794,” NYS 

Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

9

 “As the decision of the board that the whole of the scarp of the main work on Governors Island should be faced with a 

stone wall from the bottom of the ditch to the berme but as the funds are inadequate for the whole that only the North 

East Bastion and the curtain at the entrance of the work for the present done in this way.” “Proceedings of the 

Commissioners of Fortifications for the City of New York and Its Vicinity, May 8, 1795,” NYS Archives, collected by 

Larry Lowenthal. 

10 Black, 30 

11 Charles Vincent, quoted in Blanche Wilder Bellamy,” Governor’s Island” in Historic New York: Being the First Series of 

the Halk Moon papers, vol. 2, p. 174, as cited in Warren-Findley, 23. 

12 “Proceedings of the Commissioners of Fortifications for the City of New York and Its Vicinity, April 14 and April 21st, 

meeting of the Board,” NYS Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

13 NYS Comptroller Selected Audited Accounts of State Civil and Military Officers, 1780-1858, Vol. 3, Accounts of 

Ebenezer Stevens, Entry A0802, NYS Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

14 “Proceedings of the Commissioners of Fortifications for the City of New York and Its Vicinity, June 5, 1795,” NYS 

Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

15 “Proceedings of the Commissioners of Fortifications for the City of New York and Its Vicinity, April 14, 1794,” NYS 

Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

16 “Proceedings of the Commissioners of Fortifications for the City of New York and Its Vicinity July 11, 1794,” Vincent 

reported “that Mr. Price’s buildings on Governor’s Island are not useful for the fortifications there erecting.” NYS 

Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

17 “Proceedings of the Commissioners of Fortifications for the City of New York and Its Vicinity, April 13, 1795,” NYS 

Archive, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

18 Sat., Jan. 30, 1796, Argus, or Greenleaf’s New Daily Advertiser, NYS Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

19 February 15, 1802, Report by Major D. Wadsworth, Reg. of Artill. & Eng., fort Jay, conveyed to Major Jonathan 

Williams, Inspector of Fortifications, Jonathan Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana 

University, as cited in Barbara Yocum, “Historic Structures Report for Castle Williams, Governors Island National 

Monument, National Parks of New York Harbor, New York, New York,” (hereafter Castle Williams HSR), 2005, 

National Park Service, Historic Architecture Program, Northeast Region, 35 

20 Contract with John Moore for building 2 arsenals (location unspecified), New York State Comptroller Selected Audited 

Accounts of State Civil and Military Officers, 1780-1858, Vol. 3 Accounts of Ebenezer Stevens, Entry A0802, NYS 

Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

21 1797, June 20, John David paid “To 4 days work mowing and taking care of the Hay on the works on Governors Is.” 

New York State Comptroller Selected Audited Accounts of State Civil and Military Officers, 1780-1858, Vols. 1 + 2 

including Accounts of Commissioners to Procure Field Artillery, 1794-1800, under act passed March 22, 1794, Entry 

A0802, NYS Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

22 1797, Feb 13, John Week paid for a “spar 45 feet long for a flag staff.” New York State Comptroller Selected Audited 

Accounts of State Civil and Military Officers, 1780-1858, Entry A0802, Vols. 1 + 2 incl. Accounts of Commissioners to 

Procure Field Artillery, 1794-1800, under act passed March 22, 1794, NYS Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

40 

23 1797, Oct 2, 258 pounds paid to Elias Burger for the construction of a wharf, NYS Comptroller Selected Audited 

Accounts of State Civil and Military Officers, 1780-1858, Vols. 1 + 2 incl. Accounts of Commissioners to Procure Field 

Artillery, 1794-1800, under act passed March 22, 1794, Entry A0802, NYS Archives, collected by Larry Lowenthal. 

24 Letter from Major D. Wadsworth, Reg. of Artill. & Eng., Fort Jay, conveyed to Major Jonathan Williams, Inspector of 

Fortifications, February 15, 1802, Jonathan Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, 

as cited in Yocum, “Castle Williams HSR,” 35. 

25 Ibid. 

26 Letter from Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Williams to Richard Wiley, May 1806, Williams Papers, Indiana University, 

Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University as cited in Warren-Findley, 34. 

27 Emanuel Raymond Lewis, Seacoast Fortifications of the United States: An Introductory History (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 

1993), 31. 

28 Jonathan Williams, “Journal of Proceedings &Survey made of the Harbor of New York, “October 2-November 15, 1805, 

Quoted by Williams on page 1, Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, as cited in 

Warren-Findley, 32. 

29 Lewis, 26. 

30 Letter from Secretary of War Henry Dearborn to Lt. Colonel Williams on June 23, 1806, Jonathan Williams Papers, 

Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, as cited in Barbara Yocum, “Historic Structures Report for 

Fort Jay, Governors Island National Monument, National Parks of New York Harbor, New York, New York,” (hereafter 

Fort Jay HSR) 2005, National Park Service, Historic Architecture Program, Northeast Region, 41. 

31 “Draft report to the Secretary of War Relative to the Progress and Present State of the Fortifications in the Harbour of 

New York,” November 1808, Jonathan Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, as 

cited in Yocum, “Fort Jay HSR,” 48. 

32 Secretary of War Henry Dearborn, January 6, 1809, report submitted to President Jefferson, ASP, 10th Congress, 2nd

Session, Military Affairs, Vol. 1, pp 236-237, Library of Congress, as cited in Yocum, “Historic Structures Report forFort 

Jay, Governors Island National Monument” (hereafter Fort Jay HSR), 50. 

33 “Draft report to the Secretary of War Relative to the Progress and Present State of the Fortifications in the Harbour of 

New York,” November 1808, Jonathan Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, as 

cited in Yocum, “Fort Jay HSR,” 49. 

34 “Draft report to the Secretary of War Relative to the Progress and Present State of the Fortifications in the Harbour of 

New York,” November 1808, Jonathan Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, as 

cited in Yocum, “Fort Jay HSR,” 49. 

35 “Outlines of a Plan of Defence for the City and Harbour of New York,” by Secretary of War Henry Dearborn, July 21, 

1807, Jonathan Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, as cited in Yocum, “Castle 

Williams HSR,” 5. 

36 November 1808, “Draft of a Report to the Secretary of War Relative to the Progress & Present State of the Fortifications 

in the Harbour of New York,” Col. Jonathan Williams, Jonathan Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, 

Indiana University, as cited in Yocum, “Castle Williams HSR,” 9. 

37 Governors Island, National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form,” 1985, Department of the Interior, 

National Park Service. 

38 Black, 40. 

39 Yocum, Historic Structures Report for Fort Jay, 38. Yocum explains that the name of the structure was changed in the 

period 1806-1809 but that the directive for the name change has not been found. 

40 “Draft report to the Secretary of War Relative to the Progress and Present State of the Fortifications in the Harbour of 

New York,” November 1808, Jonathan Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana University, as 

cited in Yocum, “Fort Jay HSR,” 49. 

41 NYCLPC Report, p. 13, as cited in Warren-Findley, 37. 
SITE HISTORY

41 

42 Wood, Christina D., “A Most Dangerous Tree:” The Lombardy Poplar in Landscape Gardening,” Arnoldia, Vol 54, no 1 

(Winter 1994). 
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42

Figure 3.1. Plan of proposed fortifi cations on Governors Island, 1794 (as in Governors Island, 1637-1937; Its History and 

Development, 1937, original source not noted).

Figure 3.2. Governors Island, c. 1800 (National Archives II, detail of “Plan of Fortifi cation, Governor’s Island, Bedlow’s Island, 

and Oyster Island,” Record Group 77, drawer 142, sheet 90).
43

SITE HISTORY

Figure 3.3. Sketch of Governors Island and harbor, 1805 (Jonathan Williams, “Journal of Proceedings and Survey made of the 

Harbour of New York,” October 2-November 13, 1805, Jonathan Williams Papers, Manuscripts Department, Lilly Library, Indiana 

University).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

44

Figure 3.4. Governors Island Fortifi cations, circa 1813 (National Archives II, Architecture and Cartographic Branch, Fortifi cations fi les, 

Record Group 77, Drawer 37, Sheet 1.
45

SITE HISTORY

Figure 3.5. Governors Island, 1816. View looking north from Fort Columbus to Manhattan (Image courtesy of the Museum of the City of 

New York).
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46
Fort Columbus

Garden

Hospital

Castle Williams

Buttermilk Channel

Upper New York Harbor

Covered Defile

South Battery

Flagstaff

Cemetery

Cemetery

Parade Ground

Fort Columbus

Garden

Hospital

Castle Williams

Covered Defile

South Battery

Flagstaff

Cemetery

Cemetery

Parade Ground

SITE HISTORY

51 

1816-1865 

GOVERNORS ISLAND AND THE THIRD SYSTEM OF COASTAL 

DEFENSE 

Unlike First and Second Systems, the Third System of Coastal Defenses, initiated 

in 1817, was not spurred from a military threat, but was a peacetime effort to 

systematically update the nation’s harbor defenses. The new system was overseen 

by the War Department and designed by professional engineers to create an 

integrated fortification system.1

 

Brigadier General Simon Bernard and a commission of military advisors prepared 

a series of reports beginning in 1816 on the state of the nation’s coastal defenses 

and the state of military preparedness. Technological advances in artillery, ship 

building, and fortification design changed the strategic landscape, creating 

markedly different expectations for the Third System. Early planning efforts 

called for building hundreds of new fortifications along the eastern seaboard, yet 

the number of new forts actually constructed was small.2

 

Several Third System forts were constructed around the outer harbor of New 

York beginning in the 1830s including Fort Schuyler on Throgs Neck Long 

Island, Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, and Fort Hancock in Sandy Hook, 

New Jersey. These smaller fortifications located further from New York City 

were meant to combat the improved heavy armament aboard ships and destroy 

targets before enemy ships approached the city.3

 

The Third System all but ignored existing coastal defensive posts. Bernard 

authored reports in 1821 and 1826 that hardly addressed existing forts except to 

recognize their deficiencies; “Most of the existing forts only defend single 

points.... [and] satisfy only a few conditions; and they have not been planned 

with a view to the defense of the frontiers.”4

 Governors Island fell into this 

category and was rendered increasingly strategically obsolete. However, this 

rebuke created new opportunities to adapt the island and its resources to the 

changing times. 

GOVERNORS ISLAND AS A PERMANENT MILITARY 

INSTALLATION 

After the War of 1812, Congress reorganized the military creating two central 

commands, one for the north and one for the south. Numerous districts fell 

under the two central commands, one of which, the US Third Military District, 

was located in New York. After being headquartered in Castle Clinton at the tip 

of Manhattan for several years, the command was moved to Governors Island. It 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

52 

remained there for seven years before being moved back to New York after 

prolonged bureaucratic wrangling.5

Troops remained positioned on Governors Island after the War of 1812, 

although in typical post-war fashion, new development on the island was slow to 

come. Shown in a woodcut image of the island in 1825, the island was 

characterized by developments made prior to 1812 (Figure 4.1). Castle Williams, 

Fort Columbus, South Battery and a scattering of columnar trees predominated, 

along with a few other structures that appear similar in number and scale to those 

depicted on the 1813 map of the island. However, as the island’s active defensive 

functions diminished in importance, support systems and related infrastructure 

were developed to support a permanent military base, administrative center, and 

an arsenal facility. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW YORK ARSENAL 

The New York Arsenal was moved from Manhattan to Governors Island in 1832 

where a new district of buildings was constructed to house, purchase, distribute, 

and develop arms. The arsenal functioned independently from Army activities on 

the island and was administered by a distinct military agency called the Ordnance 

Department. Through the decades of the arsenal’s development, technology 

generated on the island played a major role in the evolution of new armament, 

although Sandy Hook Proving Ground in New Jersey, not Governors Island, was 

used as the field testing facility.6

 The Ordnance Department located arsenal 

structures near the wharf on the northeast side of the island, in a six-and-a-halfacre parcel just north of the main route between the wharf and Fort Columbus. 

Construction of the arsenal buildings began in 1835 and continued slowly 

through the 1870s. In 1847, Captain Thorton of the arsenal prepared a 

comprehensive plan for the district (Figure 4.2). The defining feature of the small 

district included a triangular open space, or “gun yard,” facing the East River 

surrounded by arsenal buildings. This well defined cluster fit neatly into the 

corner of land between the wharf and the shadow of Fort Columbus’ northeast 

exterior walls. 

As reflected sixty years after the designation of the Governors Island arsenal: “At 

no other place in the immediate vicinity of New York, can the Arsenal be as well 

guarded as at Governors Island. It has three quarters, store houses, shops, etc, 

already built at great expense. These buildings are especially adapted to the wants 

of an Arsenal.... The space...is so distributed in a narrow strip along the shore as 

not to interfere with the parade or drill grounds.”7

 
SITE HISTORY

53 

By the time this report was made in the late 1800s, the arsenal included 

storehouses, workshops, officers’ quarters, and office space. It operated 

independently from the Army functions on the rest of the island using day 

laborers who commuted by ferry.8

 

DEVELOPMENT OF ARMY FACILITIES 

New physical improvements for the Army facilities began in the 1830s. Initial 

development addressed the need for housing on the island. Inside Fort 

Columbus, where barracks had been located since the Revolutionary War, four 

new buildings replaced older structures in 1834 to provide improved conditions 

and make better use of the open space inside the fort. The new barracks, used as 

officers’ quarters, were arranged in a square, backing onto the ramparts to create 

a geometric inner courtyard (Figure 4.3). 

Many enlisted men were housed in tents and some in barracks buildings inside 

Fort Columbus, and some possibly in the casemates of Castle Williams.9

 

Conditions for enlisted men were crowded and uncomfortable, as recalled by a 

soldier who lived in a tent “furnished with two straw mattresses and two blankets 

which he shared with two others.”10 This stood in stark contrast to the gracious 

accommodation built for the Commanding Officer in 1843. This new structure 

was located near the wharf on the southeast side of the approach road to Fort 

Columbus. The Greek-revival building was the most ornately styled structure 

built on the island to date. 

Several new structures provided support services to the growing military 

community by the 1840s. A new hospital was built in 1839 southeast of Fort 

Columbus, near the location of earlier hospitals (Figure 4.4).11 It was separated 

from the growing cluster of buildings near the wharf, likely on purpose, to 

separate the sick from the well and inhibit the spread of disease. The Army built a 

wood frame chapel southeast of the hospital, adjacent to South Battery in the 

1840s.12 Also located near South Battery was the cemetery on the southwest shore 

and a garden to the east of the cemetery. The Army relocated the garden from its 

previous location further north on the Parade Ground. 

Period imagery from the 1850s illustrates the status of the Army’s development of 

Governors Island. The cluster of buildings at the wharf is clearly depicted along 

with associated groupings of formal and informally placed vegetation (Figures 4.5 

and 4.6). The developed district contrasted with the open character of the 

landscape elsewhere on the island that was dominated by managed grassland and 

formal lines of columnar trees (Figure 4.7). Some small scale landscape features 

existed on the glacis, including the cemetery and a garden southeast of Fort 

Columbus. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

54 

The Army began a program of strengthening the island’s shoreline in the mid1800s, replacing the natural sand and rock beaches and bluffs with masonry walls. 

Encircling the entire island with engineered walls was probably not completed 

until the early 1900s due to repeated storm damage that obliterated segments of 

the Army’s seawalls over several decades.13 However, one of the early phases can 

be seen in images of Castle Williams from the middle of the nineteenth century 

(Figures 4.8 and 4.9). Army engineers built a raised masonry platform at the base 

of the fortification to protect the structure from the direct impact of the ocean. 

The island’s non-defensive functions increased in 1852 when it became home to a 

major Army recruiting and processing center for the northeast. Scores of “green” 

troops were brought to Governors Island in the 1850s to learn the basics of 

soldiering before being deployed to other garrisons. To house the growing 

number of officers, the Army added two field officer’s quarters east of the 

Commanding Officer’s quarters, overlooking Buttermilk Channel and Brooklyn 

in the 1850s. These buildings began infilling the open space between the 

Commanding Officer’s quarters at the wharf and the hospital and chapel near 

South Battery, creating the shaded green space of Nolan Park. However, little 

construction occurred to provide permanent housing for the increased number 

of troops, who were mostly quartered in tents. 

GOVERNORS ISLAND AND THE CIVIL WAR 

Governors Island continued to function as a troop recruiting and processing 

center and a major arsenal during the Civil War. By 1861, thousands of new 

recruits and troops returning from battle spent time on the island, reportedly, as 

many as seven regiments at a time.14 The island buzzed with activity, from the 

coming and going of troops, to the storage and stockpiling of equipment. As 

recorded in 1861: “The Ordnance Department on Governor’s Island...continues 

extremely active. There seems to be a lack of space for the munitions of war 

constantly arriving there. Dalghrens, Columbiads, mortars, and guns of nearly all 

denominations, boxes of shot and shell, gun-carriages, &c., &c., crowd the 

wharves, and boats of one kind or another are constantly there, either delivering 

or receiving cargoes of warlike stores.”15

The defensive importance of the island and its fortified posts, though 

downplayed in recent years, was not forgotten during this time of war. A letter 

from the Engineering Department to the Secretary of War in 1861 relayed that, 

“Fort Columbus, Castle William, South Battery, Fort Wood, and Fort 

Gibson...are in serviceable condition and entirely ready for the whole of their 

respective armaments.”16 Yet, despite battle-readiness, Governors Island’s 

contribution to the war was entirely in a support capacity. 
SITE HISTORY

55 

The north and northeastern portion of the island, centered around the wharf, 

arsenal, and Commanding Officer’s quarters, hosted much of the war time 

activity in a busy district of housing, administrative activity, and equipment and 

armament storage (Figure 4.11). An allée planted decades earlier lined the main 

road between the wharf and Fort Columbus. Informally placed trees grew in the 

wharf vicinity to provide a shady district in the otherwise open landscape. 

Outside of the straight, formal road to Fort Columbus and the engineered arsenal 

streets, the few other roads of the wharf district were rustic, unpaved, and 

informally constructed. 

It appears that few permanent infrastructural changes were made to 

accommodate Civil War activities. Although the military population soared 

during the war years, no new permanent buildings were erected due to the 

scarcity of funds for non-battle related expenses. Instead, the open landscape on 

the glacis of Fort Columbus was the location of temporary shelter and storage for 

the island’s transient war-time population. The majority of enlisted men slept in 

tents on the perimeter of the island, as barrack space was at a premium and 

mostly given to officers and their families.17 

Inside Fort Columbus, mature trees stood on the perimeter of the geometric 

courtyard lawn (Figure 4.12). The lawn was enclosed by an approximately 

eighteen inch high, white-painted, single rail, sawn wood fence and surrounded 

by a packed-earth path (Figure 4.13). Behind the barracks, armament sat on gun 

platforms around the perimeter of the unpaved ramparts, just a few yards from 

the rear doors of the barracks (Figure 4.14). 

Several trees grew along the fort’s exterior walls without interfering with the 

copious amounts of open lawn on the glacis that was used for drilling and 

entertainment, including nightly band performances from a music shed near the 

Commanding Officer’s Quarters (Figure 4.15).18 

The island was also used as a prison for Confederate soldiers. Officers were held 

in the north building inside Fort Columbus while enlisted men were kept in 

reportedly squalid conditions in the Castle Williams casemates.19 The numbers of 

Confederate prisoners held on Governors Island fluctuated throughout the war, 

ranging from 630 to 1,100.20 

The landscape surrounding Castle Williams was austere, mirroring the grim 

conditions inside the fort. Photographs taken by the famed Civil War 

photographer Matthew Brady depict a largely open and unprogrammed space at 

the fort (Figure 4.16). Views from the roof of Castle Williams show open land 

with narrow unpaved trails in the foreground with distant views of the Arsenal 

and Fort Columbus behind. Remnants of the continuous tree line between Castle 

Williams and the wharf, documented in 1813, remained, though many specimens 

had been lost (Figure 4.17). Except for the narrow circumference of seawall at the 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

56 

base of Castle Williams, the shoreline was a mix of natural rock and sand (Figure 

4.18). Gone were the steep bluffs that once characterized the edge of the island 

and in their place were smoother, gradual slopes up to Fort Columbus. 

Other contemporary views of the island corroborate the presence of the tree line 

between Castle Williams and the Arsenal, which along with a few other small 

clusters of trees represented the only sizable vegetative features on the island. 

Most of the landscape was covered in hay or what one Confederate prisoner 

described as “a glacis beautifully turfed in bluegrass.”21 This was especially true 

on the northwest side of the island where a clear and unobstructed view was 

purposefully maintained between the forts. Most buildings, temporary or 

permanent, were located north, west, and south of Fort Columbus to preserve 

the viewshed. 

SUMMARY LANDSCAPE DESCRIPTION – 1865 

In 1865, Governors Island contained many temporary elements erected during 

the Civil War that were interspersed into the Army’s designed landscape (Figures 

4.19 and 4.20). Since the end of the War of 1812, the Army’s use of the island 

shifted from a primarily strategic role to encompass administrative and support 

functions. Consequently, the once expansively open viewshed that protected the 

forts’ field of fire was encroached upon by new structures to support a larger 

permanent military population. The developed area at the wharf expanded to the 

south and north with the construction of the Arsenal district and numerous 

support structures. This expanded district was now planted with shade trees and 

crisscrossed by a network of pedestrian and vehicular routes. 

The interior of Fort Columbus had changed markedly since 1816 and now 

included four rectangular barracks arranged in a square, backing onto the 

ramparts, and facing a more formalized center courtyard. Shade trees ringed the 

perimeter of the geometric courtyard that was divided into four quadrants by two 

bisecting walkways. The rampart level was kept free of woody vegetation and 

retained the full armament of cannon along the scarp walls. The covered defile 

remained in use, serving as a walkway between Fort Columbus and Castle 

Williams. 

The landscape between the forts was largely cleared of trees and direct views 

between the two structures remained. Several service buildings were located near 

Castle Williams but the area had the rugged appearance of a working yard, unlike 

the more pleasing, shady district at the wharf and Nolan Park. Castle Williams’ 

location at the extreme northwesterly corner of the island remained one of its 

defining features, although a seawall built in the 1850s increased the useable area 
SITE HISTORY

57 

around the exterior of the fort and diminished the dramatic effect of waves 

crashing against the austere building. 

The southwest side of Governors Island was largely undeveloped, aside from a 

cemetery and garden, and was kept free of woody vegetation. This area and the 

open space area south of Fort Columbus served as the site of temporary quarters 

for troops returning from war. 

Much of the island’s shoreline remained in its native state, evidenced by sand and 

rock beaches and steep bluffs. The Army had begun the process of streamlining 

the island’s perimeter with short segments of seawall but the most striking 

manipulation of the island’s landmass was yet to come. The next chapter of the 

island’s history in the post-Civil War period and the turn-of-the-twentiethcentury would bring unprecedented changes to the scale, density, and 

appearance of Governors Island. 

ENDNOTES 

1

 Emanuel Raymond Lewis, Seacoast Fortifications of the United States: An Introductory History (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 

1993), 37. 

2

 Ibid., 39. 

3

 Ibid., 50. 

4

 Bernard Report of 1821, as cited in Frederick Black, “A History of Fort Wadsworth, New York Harbor, Cultural 

Resources Management Study, no 7,” CW Post Center, Long Island University, 1983, 63. 

5

 Jannelle Warren-Findley, “Governors Island, New York Harbor: A Historic Resource Survey from the Beginning to 

1996,” Final Draft, 2007, National Park Service, Northeast Region, 47. 

6

 “Governors Island, National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form,” 1985, Department of the Interior, 

National Park Service. 

7

 The Ordnance Board, USA to the Chief of Ordnance, USA, July 12, 1895, RG 92 Entry 89, section 84234, National 

Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. 

8

 Warren-Findley, 52. 

9

 Ibid., 57, and 59 citing Maud Wilder Goodwin, National Historic Context, p. 371. 

10 Ibid., 62, citing Coffman, The Old Army, 148-149. 

11 “Building and Property Summary Sheet, Governors Island Historic District,” April 2000, Governors Island National 

Monument park files. 

12 Warren-Findley, 72-73. 

13 Review comment on a draft submission of the CLR from Ann L. Buttenwieser, Ph.D, August, 2009. 

14 Warren-Findley, 84, citing a New York Times article from November 20, 1860, p. 5. 

15 New York Times, September 11, 1861, ProQuest. 

16 30 November 1861, letter from the Engineer Department, Washington, D.C., to the Secretary of War, reporting on the 

condition of the “several forts under construction, and the progress of work during the year, “The War of the Rebellion,” 

Series 3, Vol.1, p. 687. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

58 

17 New York Times, September 11, 1861, ProQuest. 

18 New York Times, September 10, 1861, ProQuest.

19 Barbara Yocum, “Historic Structures Report for Castle Williams, Governors Island National Monument, National Parks 

of New York Harbor, New York, New York,” 2005, National Park Service, Historic Architecture Program, Northeast 

Region, 49. 

20 Ibid., 46. 

21 Captain Thomas Sparrow, September 4, 1861, Thomas Sparrow Collection, # 1878 University of North Carolina – 

Chapel Hill, Southern Historical Collection, Folder 7, Volume 1, 1861, N. York, T. Sparrow, Captain W. Grays, Diary, Fort 

Columbus. 
59

SITE HISTORY

Figure 4.1. Governors Island from Manhattan, 1825. The three forts fi gure prominently in the landscape along with lines of columnar 

trees and managed lawn (Image Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 54551). 

Figure 4.2. “Plan of Captain Thorton” for the New York Arsenal, 1847. Generated after development of the district had already begun, 

this plan articulated the spatial organization, roads, and open spaces of the Arsenal (National Archives II, Record Group 77, Fortifi cations 

File, Drawer 37, Sheet 45).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

60

Figure 4.3. Governors Island, 1836. The newly completed Fort Columbus barracks created an inner 

courtyard. Arsenal developments, the Commanding Offi cer’s quarters, and cemetery are all depicted 

on this plan (Library of Congress, enlargement of “Topographical map of the city and county of New 

York and the adjacent country,” J.H. Colton and Co.., #G3804.N 1836.J2).

Figure 4.4. Post Hospital, 1863 (National Archives II, Record Group 77, Miscellaneous Fortifi cation File, 

Records of the Offi ce of the Chief of Engineers, #12).
61

SITE HISTORY

Figure 4.5. Bird’s-Eye View of New York and Brooklyn, 1851 (Library of Congress, #PGA-Bachmann- Bird’s-eye view of New York and 

Brooklyn (D size) {P&P}).

Figure 4.6. Wharf area of Governors Island, 1857 (National Archives II, “Map of a survey of the shore of Governors Island made under the 

direction of Major John G. Barnard, by A.R. Van Nostrand C.E., Record Group 77, drawer 37, sheet 42).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

62

Figure 4.7. Governors Island, circa 1850. View looking south from Manhattan (Image courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York, 

S. Hollyer, Published by the Society of the Iconophiles, 1913).

Figure 4.8. Castle Williams, 1857 (National Archives II, “Map of a survey of the shore of Governors 

Island made under the direction of Major John G. Barnard, by A.R. Van Nostrand C.E., Record Group 

77, drawer 37, sheet 42).
63

SITE HISTORY

Figure 4.9. Castle Williams, 1841. This image shows the old rubble wall that abutted the fort and the proposed 

new seawall (National Archives II, “Section of Castle Williams, New York Harbor,” Record Group 77, Drawer 37, 

Sheet 25).

Figure 4.10. South side of Governors Island, showing the cemetery, garden and South Battery, 1857 (National 

Archives II, “Map of a survey of the shore of Governors Island made under the direction of Major John G. 

Barnard, by A.R. Van Nostrand C.E., Record Group 77, drawer 37, sheet 42).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

64

Figure 4.11. Governors Island, 1860. This photographic enlargement portrays the structures and vegetation of the wharf district (New 

York Public Library, 732034 F).

Figure 4.12. Fort Columbus courtyard, 1864 (National Archives II, U.S. Quartermaster’s Department, September 28, 1864, #165-1094A;SPB/

NACP).
65

SITE HISTORY

Figure 4.14. Ramparts and rear elevation of Fort Columbus barracks, 1864 (National Archives II, U.S. Quartermaster’s Department, #165-C1089; SPB/NACP).

Figure 4.13. Drilling in the Fort Columbus courtyard, 1861 (“Recruits Drilling in Squads on Governor’s Island, New York,” Published in 

Harper’s Weekly, May 4, 1861, Image courtesy of Harpersweekly.com).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

66

Figure 4.15. Drilling outside Fort Columbus, 1861 (“Parade of United States Troops on Governor’s Island before Embarkation,” Published 

in Harper’s Weekly, May 4, 1861, Image courtesy of Harpersweekly.com).

Figure 4.16. View looking northeast from the top of Castle Williams, 1862 (National Archives II, Still Pictures, B 4804 Brady Collection, 

“Fort on Governors Island, New York Harbor, NY”). 
67

SITE HISTORY

Figure 4.17. View looking east from Castle Williams, looking to Brooklyn, 1862 (National Archives II, Still Images, B 3480 Brady 

Collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

68

Figure 4.18. Castle Williams, 1862 (National Archives, Still Images, B 4041 Brady Collection).
Fort Columbus

Parade Ground

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Buttermilk Channel

Upper New York Harbor

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Commanding Officers’ Quarters

Andes Road

South Battery

Hospital

Arsenal

Fort Columbus

Parade Ground

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Commanding Officer’s Quarters

Andes Road

South Battery

Hospital

Arsenal 

Cemetery

Garden

SITE HISTORY

73 

1866-1918 

GOVERNORS ISLAND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR 

After serving as a bustling administrative post, prison, recruiting center, and 

garrison throughout the Civil War, activity on Governors Island slowed with the 

conclusion of hostilities in 1865. Few significant physical improvements took 

place during the post-war years following the immense expenditure of human 

and economic capital in the war effort. However, Governors Island’s function as 

a permanent military base remained unquestioned and investment to improve the 

installation began anew shortly after the conclusion of the war. 

Limited improvement efforts took place in the late 1860s, including the repair of 

existing buildings and walks and the demolition of deteriorated buildings. This 

was followed by more substantial infrastructural investment in ensuing decades.1

 

Much of the post-war activity occurred at the arsenal. Surplus munitions arrived 

at the island for storage and processing, however there were few facilities 

available to accommodate the materials. A visitor to the island in 1872 recalled 

that “Cannon of all shapes, sizes and caliber are lying about....Huge pyramids of 

shot and shell are piled around, from the enormous fifteen inch shell, weighing 

320 pounds, to the diminutive one-pound ball.”2

 In response to the need for 

additional storage, a new warehouse, known today as Building 110, was built 

northeast of Fort Columbus in 1875.3

 

Post-war improvements to the island’s physical resources, maintained with 

military fastidiousness and readily available labor, resulted in a pleasantly 

landscaped environment suited to both military preparedness and domesticity. 

An account of the island in 1872 described the “beautiful green island in the 

entrance of the channel,” and admired “the brilliant verdure of its trees, its neat, 

trim walks, the handsome buildings nestle in the deep foliage of its timber, and 

the well-kept gardens arranged in terraces extending from the landing pier to the 

extreme easterly point of the island.”4

 Street trees planted in the arsenal and 

wharf district decades earlier matured to shade the area, notably along the 

canopied approach road to Fort Columbus.5

 Engravings from the late nineteenth 

century display the abundant tree coverage in this region, extending from the 

arsenal, through Nolan Park, to the cemetery’s weeping willows (Figure 5.1).6

 

At Fort Columbus, a roughly circular raised earth barbican remained directly in 

front of the bridge to prevent a clear sight-line from the wharf to the fort’s main 

entry (Figure 5.2). The interior of the fort was primarily used for housing, with 

the geometry of the central open space unaltered from previous decades. An 1872 

visitor noted that the fort’s interior “is a nice shady spot, where the hot rays of the 

noonday sun cannot penetrate the thick foliage of the trees with which it is 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

74 

surrounded.”7 The ramparts behind the barracks were kept free of woody 

vegetation, and cannon placed at regular intervals along the fort’s walls retained 

its functional military preparedness. 

The verdant appearance of the eastern portion of the island stood in contrast 

with the sparsely vegetated areas east and south of Fort Columbus. Only a few 

Lombardy poplars along the northwest shore stood near Castle Williams (Figure 

5.3, see Figure 4.16). This relatively undeveloped portion of the island was 

dominated by low grass coverage. The Army retained the historically open, grasscovered glacis to facilitate troop drilling and military parades (Figure 5.4). 

Castle Williams remained an imposing and relatively solitary presence on the 

northwest corner of the island for the purposes of keeping views of the harbor 

and views toward the structure open. Several unornamented and utilitarian 

engineering buildings were located near the structure (Figure 5.5). Period 

imagery depicts a route extending from Castle Williams’ entry to two points 

along Fort Columbus’ west walls. One fork of the path incorporated the covered 

defile. The other led past a powder magazine to a break in the rampart south of 

the covered defile. 

The Army built a row of new wood-frame barracks, observed as “pretty frame 

cottages,” near South Battery, adjacent to the post cemetery and vegetable garden 

in 1872 (Figure 5.6).8

 These structures reportedly replaced older barracks 

buildings that had earned the unflattering nickname “rotten row.”9

 

Construction of living quarters continued in the late-1870s when several 

additional wood-frame duplexes completed the Nolan Park district, east of Fort 

Columbus.10 A row of uniformly styled officers’ quarters were built along a line 

southwest of the Commanding Officer’s quarters prior to the Civil War. These 

buildings, which spanned the area between the wharf district and the hospital 

and chapel, faced onto a rectilinear green space with brick walking paths, shade 

trees, and a managed lawn (Figure 5.7). When the new Nolan Park residences 

were built on the west side of the green, they mirrored the design, scale, and 

massing of the pre-Civil War residences and further defined the district by 

partially enclosing the open side of the green that previously led to the open 

expanse of the parade ground (Figure 5.8). Although the structures strongly 

resembled one another, each was personalized by its occupants. Contemporary 

reports document that the quarters contained vegetable and flower gardens, 

trellises, and climbing vines.11 

Development on the north and east shores previously left open to provide a clear 

field of fire was a sign of the island’s increasing defensive obsolescence. However, 

strategic planning for the island continued in the latter part of the nineteenth 

century. As shown on an 1871 sketch of the island, Army engineers designed a 

long, linear barbette battery (a single-story, raised earth, open platform), 
SITE HISTORY

75 

spanning most of the distance between Castle Williams and South Battery on the 

island’s southwest shore (Figure 5.9). If built as designed, thirty-six guns were to 

be mounted on the open deck to provide additional coverage of the upper 

harbor. It is documented that work commenced on the fort by 1872 but later 

accounts and analysis of late nineteenth and early twentieth century maps show 

that it was never completed.12

SEAWALL EXPANSION 

Governors Island’s location in the harbor made it susceptible to the damaging 

forces of wind and tidal action. The earliest documented seawalls on the island 

were built in the 1840s to protect the base of Castle Williams from direct contact 

with the sea. The Army expanded its use of seawalls in 1866, completing a 

masonry wall on the west side of the island from Castle Williams to South 

Battery.13 This action appears to have made the existing shoreline higher and 

more linear. A more ambitious project was planned for the eastern shore of the 

island in the 1880s. Army engineers extended the 1866 seawall northeast of South 

Battery, filling a sizable portion of the low tidal areas (Figure 5.10). By 1884, a 

masonry seawall extended from South Battery to the main wharf (Figure 5.11). In 

an effort to complete a perimeter seawall around the entire island, the Army 

accepted bids in 1889 to build 1,100 feet of seawall on the north shore, from 

Castle Williams to the arsenal.14 The proposed wall, that created 65,000 square 

feet of new buildable land, was intended to be a continuation of existing walls 

and portions were planned to replace sections that had washed away.15 As 

documented in an 1894 photograph depicting the north side of the island as seen 

from Manhattan, the length of shoreline between Castle Williams and the wharf 

district appeared as a continuous and uniform hard edge (Figure 5.12). 

GOVERNORS ISLAND AT THE TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY 

At the end of the nineteenth century Governors Island was a well-established 

Army base with numerous facilities able to accommodate a sizeable population. 

Although the island was valued as a permanent military post, recruitment center, 

and military prison, the island’s strategic value had been overshadowed by newer 

fortifications located in the outer harbor. Naval armament of the era had 

advanced to make the eighteenth and nineteenth century forts on Governors 

Island obsolete. Despite the evolution of the island’s historic function, the 

landscape retained elements of its defensive past along side features introduced 

to accommodate new uses. 

The utilitarian character of the island was most visible at Castle Williams. 

Numerous unadorned structures, such as magazines and warehouses surrounded 

the fort in a sparsely vegetated and austere setting (Figure 5.13). The Army kept 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

76 

the landscape outside of Castle Williams free of obstructions to allow sentries a 

clear line of sight around the prison. 

Conversely, domestic and recreational uses in other parts of the island offered a 

much more welcoming appearance. A contemporary newspaper article 

documented the recreational activities of the soldiers and their families. It 

described frequent entertaining at the South Battery Officers Club that was often 

decorated with flowers from a near-by greenhouse.16 Promenading and bicycling 

along a path on the perimeter of the island, a former horse track, was a popular 

fair weather diversion.17 “The grounds reserved for the parade are directly in the 

centre of the island, and are used for golf links. Just beyond is a tennis court, 

beautifully laid out and the pride of the young people.”18 The tennis courts sat on 

the boundary between the heavily shaded, residential Nolan Park, and the open 

parade ground of Fort Columbus. Both areas were used for entertaining, as seen 

in period photographs of pageants and military parades (Figure 5.14). The parade 

ground was also occasionally used for other purposes, including ballooning. Hot 

air balloon enthusiast, Nicholas Helmer, obtained permission from Lieutenant 

Colonel Whipple to launch his manned balloon from Governors Island south of 

the music stand in 1885. Helmer stretched the 162-foot-long balloon on the grass 

lawn to inflate it with the help of some off duty soldiers. Unfortunately for 

Helmer, the balloon only partially inflated before being swept into the air and 

across the harbor by a strong breeze.19

One area of the island that combined the character of the working military 

landscape and the domestic functions of the post was Fort Columbus. The 

structures in the interior of the fort served as barracks space, and although the 

geometric courtyard was planted with shade trees, the Army used the space for 

drilling (Figure 5.15). The fort’s exterior landscape remained largely the same as 

in previous decades. The glacis remained clear of woody vegetation for drilling 

and parades. At the fort’s main entrance, street trees planted in the 1850s lined 

the approach road, terminating at the barbican that blocked direct views of the 

bridge and main entry (See Figure 5.2). The Army maintained the dry moat as 

closely cut lawn and used the sheltered expanse for target practice.20 

The status of facility development at the turn of the century is well documented 

in a blueprint of Governors Island from 1902 (Figure 5.16). The handsome map 

shows the dense clusters of buildings at Nolan Park, the Arsenal, and the first 

four dwellings to be built along Colonels’ Row on the south side of the island. 

The residential districts contrasted with the larger and more widely dispersed 

support buildings near Castle Williams and the island’s north shore. Circulation, 

drinking water, fire suppression, and sewer systems were established throughout 

the island. The 1902 map depicts a new large dock along the north shore, 

opposite a large storehouse building and separated from the traditional wharf 

area, illustrating the Army’s need to accommodate larger vessels. 
SITE HISTORY

77 

EXPANSION OF GOVERNORS ISLAND 

In response to the overcrowded conditions of lower Manhattan in the late 1800s 

from the explosive growth of immigrant communities, members of the public 

advocated to turn Governors Island into a public park. The public park 

movement in New York had begun in the 1850s with the construction of Central 

Park, built in the 1850s and 1860s, and Prospect Park in Brooklyn, constructed 

after the end of the Civil War. Yet, neither of these large open spaces were readily 

available to the residents of lower Manhattan, who were out of walking distance 

and an expensive trolley or ferry ride away. Representatives from lower 

Manhattan introduced a bill to devote Governors Island to public open space in 

1888 but no was action taken.21 Proponents tabled the idea briefly but discussion 

began again in the 1890s when new legislation was again introduced to change 

the use of Governors Island for public enjoyment. The Army countered, citing 

the island’s defensive value in a somewhat tenuous argument: “The island is of 

great national importance, and should under no consideration be abandoned as a 

military station. At the present time, when swift ships of war and torpedo boats 

may be able under cover of fogs or smoke to pass the lower forts, it is of vital 

importance that governors island be held and armed with rapid fire guns and 

with mortars to destroy any such as may succeed in eluding the vigilance of the 

forts below.”22 

In spite of the public debate about the future of Governors Island, Secretary of 

War, Elihu Root commissioned a study to examine the possibility of expanding 

the island’s land mass to create the necessary space to house a full battalion.23

Part of his reasoning for investigating such a large infrastructural expansion may 

have been to increase the Army’s presence on Governors Island and secure the 

island for exclusive military use. 

Early planning for the island’s expansion included surveys of three shoals off the 

southeastern coast of the island.24 Planners from the Army Corps of Engineers 

estimated adding approximately 110 acres to the island’s land mass.25 Some fill 

material was planned to come from the dredging of Buttermilk Channel.26 As a 

major shipping route that no longer accommodated the large freighters or 

battleships of the era, the call for dredging was made by the military and the 

business community of New York.27 Using fill from Buttermilk Channel and from 

the tunneling of the New York subway, Secretary Root estimated the cost for 

enlarging the island at 1,140,000 dollars.28 

In the end, the War Department’s grand plan for Governors Island prevailed over 

the desires of public park proponents. The New York State Legislature cleared 

the way for the island expansion by passing a bill ceding the project area’s 

underwater acreage to the Federal Government in February 1901.29
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78 

Secretary Root envisioned more than a simple expansion of Governors Island’s 

acreage. To realize the goal of completely modernizing the post, he appointed a 

board of military planners to study the issue. Civilian architects were added to the 

planning effort in 1901, including Charles McKim of the renowned New York 

City architecture firm of McKim, Mead, and White. Root retained McKim’s 

services for several years during which time his firm completed a series of plans 

to transform the island by removing all of the existing buildings and site 

improvements except Fort Columbus, Castle Williams, and South Battery. 

Reportedly, Root took McKim to the White House on at least one occasion to 

share details of the plan with a receptive President Theodore Roosevelt.30 

An article in the New York Times from April 1902 with the title “Sweeping 

Changes at Governors Island, Practically Every Building There to be Replaced,” 

described the thinking behind the proposed drastic alteration of the island. 

Colonel Kimball, one of the Army planners, reported: “It seemed to us that the 

best plan was to conceive of a cyclone having laid the island completely to waste, 

and that we should then undertake to establish an Army post upon the most 

modern plans.”31 The article claimed: “Some of the buildings now standing on 

Governors Island are fully a hundred years old. They were put up without any 

regard for a general harmonious scheme, and as a result the existing arrangement 

is considered by Army experts to be a general hodge-podge, entirely inferior to 

Army posts costing the Government much less money to maintain...”32

McKim based his design on Beaux Arts and City Beautiful principles that 

incorporated formal, Neoclassical architecture and site planning. These design 

styles dominated American civic architecture and city planning in the late 1800s 

and early 1900s, notably after the resounding success of the World’s Columbian 

Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Beaux Arts architecture was often built on a large 

scale, using Greek, Roman, and Renaissance features such as columns, grand 

arched entryways, and classical sculpture. City Beautiful planning sought to 

organize the urban environment and add European-styled order to many of 

America’s rapidly growing and organically evolving cities. The style used formal 

clusters of buildings arranged along long view corridors and incorporated 

repetition of scale, setback, and material. 

An early version of the Governors Island redevelopment plan, dated 1902, 

depicts the complete transformation that Root and McKim envisioned (Figure 

5.17). According to the proposed plan, the historic forts would be the only 

existing buildings to remain and a long, open corridor was planned along the 

island’s length. The design was not strictly axial and geometric but utilized these 

concepts in its arrangement of structures, roads, and open space. Much of the 

new acreage on the southeast side of the island was left as open space, with 

buildings lining the perimeter. At the terminus of the new acreage, a central 

building sat on axis with Fort Columbus with a series of roads arrayed around it. 
SITE HISTORY

79 

Castle Williams became part of a small side cluster of buildings arranged around 

an almost rectangular shape. The only landscape feature that McKim planned to 

retain was the main entrance to Fort Columbus and its straight path to the docks, 

although he proposed removing the historic barbican at the fort’s east gate. 

Later iterations of the plan emerged, like one from 1907 where McKim altered 

several aspects of the plan to make the design even more symmetrical than prior 

versions. He now envisioned an almost uniform procession of modestly sized 

dwellings ringing the exterior of the island. McKim located a district of large 

warehouses and docks northwest of Castle Williams. The periodical Scientific 

American printed a rendering of the plan where the symmetry is reinforced by 

continuous lines of street trees. The streets, buildings, and trees arranged around 

the perimeter of the island reinforced the overall outline of the space, in which 

the conically shaped new acreage in the southeast resembled the cone of an ice 

cream cone and the rounded land to the northwest, the original landmass, the ice 

cream. 

Despite the time and money spent redesigning Governors Island, none of 

McKim’s plans came to fruition. Work did progress on the island expansion, first 

by building seawalls around the shoals, then by pumping the water out and lastly 

by filling the void (Figure 5.18). The project was largely complete by 1909 (Figure 

5.19). 

Flat and featureless, the new land was quickly recognized as a good landing field 

by early aviators. Wilbur Wright took off and landed from Governors Island in 

1909, flying up the Hudson River to Grant’s Tomb and back to the island.33 He 

was followed by other experimental flyers, such as Glen Curtiss who landed on 

the island after flying from Albany, NY.34 

Little development occurred on the island’s new land following the completion 

of the expansion project. As seen in a 1911 photograph of the island, a small 

cluster of unidentified structures stood on the far end but the rest of the terrain 

remained devoid of defining features (Figure 5.20). This stood in stark contrast to 

the original portion of the island, with its well established street trees, green 

lawns, work yards, and domestic and utilitarian buildings (Figures 5.21 and 5.22). 

WORLD WAR I AT GOVERNORS ISLAND 

Complicated tensions and a tangled web of alliances between European powers 

came to a head in 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in 

response to the assassination of their heir to the throne. Shortly after, numerous 

European countries joined the conflict, including Russia, France, England, and 

Germany. The war quickly spread beyond European boundaries because of the 

wide-reaching influence of these nations’ colonial influence. The United States 
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80 

pledged to remain neutral but German submarine warfare in the Atlantic tested 

this policy of neutrality. United States President Woodrow Wilson remained 

committed to staying out of the conflict even after German U-Boats sunk the 

luxury liner, the Lusitania, in 1915, amidst mounting domestic pressure to enter 

the war. German attacks on American vessels in the Atlantic continued in 

subsequent years, forcing the United States to change policy. Congress declared 

war on Germany on April 6, 1917. 

Governors Island, strategically located at the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean and 

near a major shipping and population center, was positioned to serve as a supply 

depot for materials and soldiers heading to the war in Europe. Indecision about 

how to develop the new acreage was set aside and dozens of identical, massive 

storehouses were constructed on the southeast side of the island (Figure 5.23). 

The Army moved material between buildings and a dock at the southeast corner 

of the island using a railroad (Figure 5.24). The southeast side of the island also 

hosted numerous other support structures, including machine shops, railroad 

repair shops, fuel storage facilities, barracks, and mess halls (Figure 5.25). 

World War I development was not confined to the previously empty portions of 

the island. The Army erected temporary offices, barracks, and tents throughout 

the original section of the island. The structures were mostly one-story, wood 

frame, rectangular buildings located with no over-arching organizational pattern. 

Contemporary photographs and plans show the presence of five long, thin, 

rectangular structures oriented north-south along the northwest side of Fort 

Columbus’, now re-named Fort Jay, exterior wall. These and other buildings, 

including the ‘H’ shaped hospital, stood between Castle Williams and Fort Jay, 

obliterating most of the remnants of the covered defile that once connected the 

forts. 

The Army even located structures in the Fort Jay courtyard. Contemporary 

photographs show a long, rectangular clapboard structure on the edge of the 

grassy courtyard, directly abutting one of the area’s mature shade trees. Several 

similar structures were erected to the west of Fort Jay’s barbican (Figure 5.26). 

Elsewhere on the parade ground, the integrity of the open space was retained. 

The long expanse south of Fort Jay where polo matches and drilling took place 

remained free of structures. 

The war concluded in November 1918 when France, England, and the United 

States signed an armistice with Germany and the frenzied pace of activity slowed 

at Governors Island. 
SITE HISTORY

81 

LANDSCAPE DESCRIPTION IN 1918 

By 1918, the Governors Island landscape had been drastically altered from its 

historic appearance (Figure 5.27). The island’s landmass more than doubled in 

size after fill from Buttermilk Channel dredging and construction of the New 

York City subway was added to shallow shoals south of the island. This filled area 

was used extensively in World War I to house scores of warehouses, barracks, 

docks, and support structures. The south side was dominated by lines of 

identically sized and spaced temporary warehouses that were connected by a 

series of rail lines. 

On the original part of the island numerous changes reflected war-time necessity 

as well as the Army’s commitment to establishing a permanent base. Nolan Park 

and Colonels’ Row were expanded to provide more residential housing and 

retained distinct park-like characters. Shade trees lined many of the island’s 

streets. Several areas of the historic glacis were now home to new structures but 

open lawn still surrounded Fort Jay’s (formerly Fort Columbus) outer walls and 

extended several hundred yards south of the fort (Figure 5.28). 

The covered defile between Fort Jay and Castle Williams had been largely 

obliterated by the construction of several buildings. World War I temporary 

buildings stood just yards from Fort Jay’s west outer walls. Castle Williams, the 

military prison facility, was surrounded by war-era service-oriented buildings, 

rough grass and packed earth, and minimal landscape plantings, contrasting with 

the more bucolic areas of the island at Colonels’ Row, Nolan Park, and the Wharf 

district. 

ENDNOTES 

1

 Jannelle Warren-Findley, “Governors Island, New York Harbor: A Historic Resource Survey from the Beginning to 

1996,” Final Draft, 2007, National Park Service, Northeast Region, 114. 

2 New York Times, September 21, 1872, ProQuest. 

3

 “Governors Island, National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form,” 1985, Department of the Interior, 

National Park Service. 

4 New York Times, September 21, 1872, ProQuest. 

5 New York Times, September 21, 1872, ProQuest: “A well-kept walk overshadowed and canopied by trees leads to the 

principal work on the island, Fort Columbus.” 

6 New York Times, September 21, 1872, ProQuest: “On the east point of the island is the cemetery, with its drooping 

willows and white headstones...” 

7 New York Times, September 21, 1872, ProQuest. 

8

 Ibid. 

9

 Ibid. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

82 

10 “Governors Island, National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form,” 1985, National Park Service. 

11 New York Times, September 21, 1872, ProQuest. 

12 An article from the New York Times, September 21, 1872 describes the battery in construction: “Along the southern 

shore, from Castle William to South Fort, a powerful battery is in course of erection... It will be armed with thirty-six 

fifteen inch guns and will completely sweep the upper bay.” Edmund Banks Smith, in his book Governors Island: Its 

Military History Under Three Flags, 1637-1913, claims the battery was dismantled in 1893, citing the Adjunct General’s 

notes. Smith also reported that remains of the barbette battery were unearthed in 1910 when “salt water mains” were 

installed throughout the island, reference appearing on page 107. 

13 As noted on “Chart of the East Shore of Governors Island, 1884,” National Archives II, RG 77, Drawer 37, Sheet 63, 

NARA cartographic. 

14 New York Times, March 12, 1889, ProQuest.

15 Ibid. 

16 New York Times, May 9, 1887, ProQuest.

17 Ibid. 

18 Ibid. 

19 New York Times, July 9, 1885, ProQuest.

20 New York Times, July 26, 1897, ProQuest. The article reported that a private bled profusely after being stung in the neck 

by a mosquito while taking target practice in the moat. 

21 New York Times, July 30, 1888, ProQuest. 

22 General Miles report to Congress opposing the bill to transfer the island to the city as a public park, New York Times, 

January 29, 1895, ProQuest. 

23 Warren-Findley, 220, citing correspondence from National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 37078 #9. 

24 New York Times, September 6, 1900, ProQuest. 

25 Ibid. 

26 Ibid. 

27 New York Times, February 4, 1901, ProQuest. 

28 Ibid. 

29 New York Times, February 8, 1901, ProQuest. 

30 New York Times, April 16, 1902, ProQuest. 

31 New York Times, April 18, 1902, ProQuest.

32 Ibid. 

33 Warren-Findley, 170, citing Sanford, “The First Aerial Canoe”. 

34 Warren-Findley, 170, citing William Wraga, “The Hudson River Flight,” The Curtiss-Wright Corporation History, 

http://www.curtisswright.com/history/1910. 
83

SITE HISTORY

Figure 5.1. View of Governors Island, looking north, 1879. The verdant wharf district on the right side of the island contrasts with the 

sparsely vegetated areas surrounding the forts on the left side of the island (Rogers, Peet, and Co., 1879, Library of Congress, G3804.

N4A3 1879 N4 TIL). 

Figure 5.2. Looking west to Fort Columbus’s entrance,1898. This image illustrates the layout of the barbican blocking direct views to 

the Fort’s gate. The street trees that lined the road between the fort and the main wharf are visible at image right (National Archives II, 

“Entrance to Regular Fort” at Fort Columbus circa 1898. “U.S. Military Posts of the Late 19th Century, Fort Columbus, NY,” Records of the 

Quartermaster General, Catalogue #92-F-15-6, SPB/NACP).
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Figure 5.3. View of Governors Island, looking east, 

1874. This engraving depicts the tall Lombardy poplars 

along the north shore of the island near Castle Williams 

that were also captured in the Civil War-era Matthew 

Brady photographs (see Figures 4.16 and 4.17) (Library 

of Congress, New York/ Print by G. Shlegel, Published by 

Tamsen and Dethlefs, c. 1874, #PGA-Schlegel-New York, 

3G07337u)

Figure 5.4. Dress parade of the 7th Regiment, circa 1890. The Parade Ground is devoid of plantings and other obstacles 

(Library of Congress, LC-B2-2030-7).
85

SITE HISTORY

Figure 5.5. View of Castle Williams and the covered defi le between the forts, 1886. Two recessed paths can be seen radiating 

from Castle Williams’ gate. Several modest support buildings surround the fort (The Daily Graphic, “Seacoast Defenses: Our 

Great Cities at the Mercy of Any Hostile Fleet - Lieutenant Griffi n’s Report,” February 13, 1886, Statue of Liberty National 

Monument fi les).

Figure 5.6. Plan of Governors Island, 1879. The defi cient housing called “rotten row” was replaced with new wood frame 

cottages, depicted on the map between South Battery and the cemetery (“First U.S. Army Engineers Map of Governors 

Island - 1878, from a survey by 1st Lt. E. Griffi n, CE and F. N. Owen, Asst. Engr.” Redrawn in January 1962, Appearing in 

“Ordance and Explosives Archives Search Report, Findings,” U.S. Coast Guard Support Center, Governors Island, 1997, 

Governors Island National Monument collection).
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86

Figure 5.7. Plan of Governors Island, 1871. This plan clearly depicts the buildings and circulation systems of Governors Island. Nolan 

Park, the new park-like district of offi cers’ quarters, is pictured at image left. As of 1871, only a few of the Nolan Park residences were 

completed and the district, characterized by the complex system of pedestrian paths, opened onto the Parade Ground (National Archives 

II, RG 77 Miscellaneous Fortifi cation File, #33, Records of the Offi ce of the Chief of Engineers). 
87

SITE HISTORY

Figure 5.8. Governors Island, 1879. This enlargement highlights the new dwellings (buildings 8-12 on 

the plan) built on the southeast side Nolan Park, partially enclosing the park that formerly overlooked 

the open parade ground (“Map of Governors Island, 1879, First Army Engineers, redrawn in January 

1962, appearing in “Ordnance and Explosive Archive Search Report,” U.S. Coast Guard, Governors 

Island National Monument fi les). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

88

Figure 5.9. Sketch of proposed barbette battery at Governors Island, 1871. Military engineers designed a long 

open platform battery spanning the south side of the island to provide coverage of the harbor (National Archives 

II, RG 77, Drawer 37, Sketch A “Governors Island, NY, as proposed by the board of engineers, 1871,” NARA 

cartographic).

Figure 5.10. Plan of Governors Island showing the seawall (dark white line) built around South Battery, 1880. The 

seawall was extended along the east side of the island (on the right side of the image) to strengthen the shoreline 

and add usable land (National Archives II, RG 77 Drawer 37, Sheet 71, “Map of Governors Island with Water 

Contours to the Twelve Foot Curve,” NARA cartographic).
89

SITE HISTORY

Figure 5.12. Governors Island as seen from Manhattan, 1894. Near the turn-of-the-century, the northern shoreline of Governors Island 

had been engineered through the construction of perimeter seawalls (Library of Congress, image # 3614809). 

Figure 5.11. Plan of the extended seawall on the east side of the island, 1884. Note South Battery on image left. This plan highlights 

the amount of fi ll used to complete the eastern seawall (National Archives II, RG 77, Drawer 37, Sheet 63, “Chart of the East Shore of 

Governors Island, 1884,” NARA cartographic).
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Figure 5.13. View of Castle Williams, looking northwest, 1898. This view illustrates the stark landscape surrounding 

the castle (National Archives II, Records of the Offi ce of the Quartermaster General: U.S. Military Posts of the Late 19th 

Century, Folder 15, Fort Columbus (N.Y.), #92-F-15-3 SPB/NACP).

Figure 5.14. Garden party, circa 1900. Nolan Park was used as the setting for parties and pageants (Library of Congress, 

LC-B2-2202-14 [P&P]).
91

SITE HISTORY

Figure 5.15. Fort Columbus interior view, 1898. The courtyard was still used for military drilling. Notice the trees 

of varied ages. Walkways surrounded the perimeter of the space as well as cutting through the center, dividing the 

courtyard into four quadrants (National Archives II, U.S. Quartermasters Department, “U.S. Military Posts of the Late 

19th Century, Fort Columbus, NY,” Records of the Quartermaster General, Catalog # 92-F-15-6 SPB/NACP).

Figure 5.16. Governors Island plan, 1902. This blueprint depicts conditions of the island at the turn-of-the-century, 

illustrating the existing buildings, wharves, and circulation systems (National Archives II, RG 92, Blueprint File, 

Governors Island, NY, #5).
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92

Figure 5.17: Proposed plan of the redesign of Governors Island, prepared by McKim, Mead, and White, 

1902. Anticipating the expansion of the island, the War Department contracted with architects to 

generate a new vision for Governors Island. This plan called for the removal of all of the island’s 

existing infrastructure, with the exception of Fort Columbus, Castle Williams, and South Battery 

(National Archives II, RG 92, Blueprint fi le, Governors Island, NY, #2, “Sketch Plan Showing Extension of 

Governors Island,” April 16, 1902, NARA cartographic).
93

SITE HISTORY

Figure 5.18: Plan showing the 

extension of Governors Island, 

proposed piers, ferry slips, and 

depth chart, 1907 (National Archives 

II, RG 92, Blueprint fi le, Governors 

Island, NY, #9, “Governors Island, 

Plan Showing Proposed Piers and 

Ferry Slips,” May 1907, NARA 

cartographic).

Figure 5.19. As-built drawing of the 

enlargement of Governors Island, 

1912. The new land mass was 

surveyed. The only feature recorded 

was a light and fog tower on the 

southwest side of the island (“1912 

Enlargement of Governors Island, 

New York, Completed Enlargement, 

Outlines and Elevations, October 

1912,” National Archives-Northeast 

Region, New York, NY, RG 77, 

entry 802, Box 25: New York City, 

Governors Island; File: 5 Docks).
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94

Figure 5.21. Governors Island, looking southwest, 1909. Spectators watch exercises on the fl ying fi eld from the shade of Colonels’ Row. 

Notice the allees of street trees and the neat, edged, herringbone brick paths (Library of Congress, Bain Collection, 21793).

Figure 5.20. Governors Island, 1911. This photograph was taken shortly after the island’s expansion. With the exception of a few small 

structures on the far tip of the newly fi lled land, the south portion of the island was devoid of development (Library of Congress, LOT 

12482 [P&P]). 
95

SITE HISTORY

Figure 5.22. Ruth Law and her airplane at Governors Island, circa 1912. The cleared land of the fl ying fi eld contrasted with the heavily 

planted, village like setting of Colonels’ Row, visible in the background (Library of Congress, Bain Collection, 23239 v).

Figure 5.23: World War I warehouses on Governors Island, 1918. This image illustrates the scores of temporary storehouses, barracks, 

and supply buildings erected on the south side of the island to meet war-time demands (New York Public Library, image 115879).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

96

Figure 5.24. Plan of Governors Island, 1919. This image, prepared by the warehousing division, depicts the conditions of the island after 

World War I. The south side of the island, image left, is covered by temporary warehouses and support structures, and the Governors 

Island railroad. The map also depicts several temporary structures located around Fort Jay and Castle Williams (National Archives II, RG 

92, Railroad Blueprint folder, #10-5 “Governors Island”).
97

SITE HISTORY

Figure 5.25. Railroad Repair Shop, 1918. This building was located on the southern tip of the island, part of the support 

system that transported freight between the World War I warehouses and the docks at the southern extents of the 

island (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 140).

Figure 5.26. Temporary offi ce building, 1918. This one-story, wood frame building was typical of the design of many 

World War I temporary buildings on the island. It was located east of the Fort Jay main gate (visible at image left), along 

the approach road to the historic wharf district (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 140).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

98
Fort Jay

Parade Ground

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Buttermilk Channel

Upper New York Harbor

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Evans Road

Andes Road

Carder Road

CommandingOfficer’s Quarters

Andes Road

Hay Road

Comfort Road

Craft Shop

Cafeteria

Headquarters/Offices

Warehouses

Registration

Chapel

Hay Road

Warehouses

Rail yard

Warehouses

Barracks

Fire Engine House

Storage Sheds

QMC Units

QMC Units

South Battery

Colonels’ Row

Quartermaster’s Wharf

Ferry Slip

Fort Jay

Parade Ground

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Evans Road

Andes Road

Carder Road

Colonels’ Row

Andes Road

Hay Road

Comfort Road

Craft Shop

Cafeteria

Headquarters/Offices

Warehouses

Registration

Hostess School Chapel

Hay Road

Warehouses

Rail yard

Warehouses

Barracks

Fire Engine House

South Battery

Polo Field

Ferry Slip

Quartermaster’s Wharf

SITE HISTORY

103 

1919-1966 

GOVERNORS ISLAND AFTER WORLD WAR I 

After the conclusion of World War I in 1918, Governors Island’s use as a major 

supply base ceased. However, the island continued to serve important military 

functions in ensuing decades, including hosting the command of the First Army, 

remaining home to a large number of troops, and functioning as a military prison. 

Governors Island’s war-time functions were clearly evident in the post-war 

landscape. Uniform warehouse buildings lined the south side of the island, 

connected to docks at the southern extents by a system of rail tracks. The 

historically open connection between Fort Jay and Castle Williams, which had 

been compromised years earlier after the defensive value of the island decreased, 

was further cluttered by the addition of World War I temporary buildings. 

Linear wood frame structures stood east of Fort Jay, inside the courtyard, on the 

southwest side of the barbican, and to the south and west of Castle Williams. The 

fate of these structures was varied. As seen in period mapping, some, like the 

temporary office building southwest of Fort Jay’s main gate, were removed 

shortly after the war but others remained in use for decades (Figure 6.1). 

FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS OF THE 1920S 

The intense activity associated with World War I subsided after 1918 with the 

exception of the island’s role as a military prison. To accommodate the increase 

in prisoners after the war, the Army housed some of them in “buildings not 

heretofore used as prisoners’ barracks, which in order make suitable for the 

purpose, had to be enclosed by a stockade.”1

 Several structures southwest of 

Castle Williams, including a wood shed, and two shop buildings, were 

incorporated into the prison complex and enclosed inside a guarded yard by 

eight foot tall wooden fencing topped with barbed wire (Figure 6.2).2

 Raised 

guardhouses provided sentries with a view of the prison yard. Just prior to these 

modifications, photographic documentation depicts the area as a utilitarian, 

unkempt, work yard (Figure 6.3). The number of inmates must have soon 

decreased, as photographs from the mid-and late-1920s show the area south of 

Castle Williams transformed into a manicured grass lawn, with orderly displays 

of militaria, curbed streets, and uniform street lighting surrounding the Castle’s 

main gate (Figures 6.4, 6.5, and 6.6). 

The effort to clean up the scruffy war-time conditions extended to other areas of 

the island as well. The Army paid attention to site-wide amenities, caring for 

hedges, replanting street trees, and installing new street lighting (Figure 6.7). 

Photographic evidence shows that pre-war structures and landscapes such as 

those in Nolan Park, Colonels’ Row, and the civilian employees’ quarters on the 
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south side of the Parade Ground were well maintained (Figure 6.8). The Army 

removed the temporary building from the Fort Jay courtyard and planted shrubs 

in the four-square grassy interior (Figure 6.9). 

This program of careful maintenance was not universally applied across the 

island’s infrastructure. Many aging World War I -era barracks remained in use to 

house troops. The Army built the structures to be temporary and the hastily 

constructed wooden buildings deteriorated rapidly. In 1927, a Congressional 

delegation visited Governors Island and made note of the substandard housing. 

Congressman Kreiss declared: “I should like to see Governors Island made one of 

the approach spots to New York City, a place of attractiveness instead of a dump. 

From what one sees from the water side, it is a dump. The military position here 

is a permanent one and has been since the first days of the island. The buildings, 

therefore, should be permanent stone structures instead of wooden shacks.”3

Congressman Kreiss’s plea for improved housing on Governors Island supported 

the Army’s desire to move forward with the McKim, Mead, and White master 

plans for the island generated years earlier. In 1928, funding materialized to 

undertake the first large scale facility development since World War I, and 

construction of a large barracks building named Liggett Hall (now commonly 

known as Building 400) began. Staff from McKim, Mead, and White designed 

and oversaw construction of the building. The neo-Georgian brick structure, 

built on the new fill, spanned almost the entire width of the island south of 

Colonels’ Row and was by far, the largest building on Governors Island (Figure 

6.10). The linear brick building featured two wings that projected south. A grand 

portal cut through the building near its midpoint, framing views between the old 

and new parts of the island. 

To prepare for construction of Liggett Hall, several World War I-era buildings 

flanking the proposed building site were removed (Figures 6.11 and 6.12). These 

temporary work buildings were the only obstructions on the otherwise barren 

ground plane, as some of the World War I warehouses on the south side of the 

island had already been removed by this date. The line of World War I 

warehouses on the east side of the rail tracks were the first to be demolished and 

were followed by the piecemeal removal of selected buildings west of the track 

(Figure 6.13). Portions of the railroad were removed by this time as well, although 

some segments remained for the delivery of coal.4

 Photographic evidence shows 

that the remaining portions were removed by the early 1930s (Figure 6.14). 

RECREATION ON GOVERNORS ISLAND 

The shift from using horses and mules to motorized transport was largely 

complete by the end of World War I. The Army made incremental changes to the 

infrastructure of Governors Island to reflect the shift, notably converting animal 
SITE HISTORY

105 

barns to vehicular garages. However, as a holdover from the days of mounted 

cavalry, the game of polo remained a popular pastime for Army officers. Major 

General Robert L. Bullard discussed his support of the game as a training exercise 

for soldiers as late as 1923. “[Polo] brings into play every quality that contributes 

to make a good soldier.... Polo is equally valuable the mounted and the 

dismounted man, the artilleryman, the infantryman, as well as the cavalryman.”5

 

In approximately 1920, the Governors Island polo field was established on a 

segment of the Parade Ground located between Nolan Park and Colonels’ Row. 

Beginning in 1925, the polo players shared the Parade Ground with golfers. A 

New York Times article described the course as a nine hole, par thirty course of 

1,878 yards. The first hole teed off from the lawn near the Commanding Officer’s 

house to a green inside Fort Jay’s dry moat. The second and third holes were 

played along Colonels’ Row. As described in the article: “You are “teeing up” on 

the fourth, when your attention is distracted by the passing of a squad of eight or 

ten men who walk in perfect cadence. “Who are they?” you ask, lifting your eyes 

from the ball you were addressing. “Prisoners!” replies your host and golfing 

companion...”6

 

The fourth hole was an unorthodox one, played over the roof of the World War I 

buildings west of Fort Jay. 

[Your partner] tees up a hundred feet away from the front of one of five 

bungalows, which are introduced to the visitor as “canteens.” “Do you shoot over 

that building?” the visitor asks. “Yes,” replies my host. “That strip on the roof is 

the direction mark. Follow that – this is a ‘blind hole.’” There are many reasons 

why emotion enters the heart and soul of the stranger. Men and women are 

entering and leaving the canteen. Other men are passing to and fro in a 

subterranean passageway leading from Fort Jay... A lot of cannons rest on top of 

the fort and all seem trained upon today’s golfers.” 7 

Luckily, a wire screen protected pedestrians from errant golf shots. 

The limited space of the Parade Ground made for more unusual holes along the 

golf course. The article’s author described playing the fifth hole by ricocheting 

the ball off the walls of Fort Jay to make it onto the green inside the moat, an 

apparently common technique for that hole.8

 

Golf course maintenance activities and equipment storage took place in a caddy 

house located near the southeast corner of the Parade Ground next to the tennis 

courts (Figure 6.15). The small wood frame building sat in a cluster of vegetation 

on the perimeter of the starkly open Parade Ground. 

After the completion of Liggett Hall in 1930, the polo field was moved the open 

space south of the new barracks, possibly to address the conflict between golfers 

and polo players on the Parade Ground. The abundant open space of the south 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

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region allowed room for the construction of permanent bleachers and wooden 

field markers (Figure 6.16). 

GOVERNORS ISLAND IN THE 1930S 

The completion of Liggett Hall initiated a new phase of construction to 

modernize the post’s facilities. The Army contracted with McKim, Mead, and 

White again in 1931 for the design of two additional barracks (Buildings 550 and 

333), flanking the northwest and southeast sides of Liggett Hall.9

 The lengths of 

the neo-Georgian brick buildings matched the length of Liggett Hall’s south 

wings and were similar in scale, materials, and design, which fostered visual 

continuity within the new barracks district in the center of the island. 

Built in the same architectural style as the other 1920s and early 1930s buildings, 

McKim, Mead, and White designed a new hospital to replace the ‘H’ shaped 

former post hospital that was created by expanding a pre-World War I building 

southeast of Castle Williams. The building, whose construction began circa 1932, 

was located south of Castle Williams next to the post bakery (Figures 6.17, 6.18, 

and 6.19). Three more brick buildings, two officers’ quarters and a nurses’ 

quarters, replaced numerous small wood frame buildings east of Castle Williams 

in 1934, bringing a more uniform character to the streetscape. 

Maintenance of existing features continued with labor provided by the Army and 

the new Works Progress Administration (WPA), established in 1935 to provide 

jobs to the nation’s vast numbers of unemployed. The New York Times reported 

that Governors Island was to be renovated using one million dollars of WPA 

appropriations, employing five thousand workers.10 Numerous tasks were 

performed during the program, but one specifically mentioned in newspaper 

coverage was the renovation of dilapidated wooden officers’ quarters (Figure 

6.20). Despite the building campaign of the early and mid-1930s, many noncommissioned officers and enlisted men were still quartered in aging wooden 

barracks dating or pre-dating World War I (Figures 6.21 and 6.22). 

Various site improvements were undertaken by Army labor troops including 

planting trees and shrubs around the island, notably surrounding the newly 

constructed buildings (Figure 6.23). The Army replaced segments of the privet 

hedge along Andes Road as needed and maintained the mature portions carefully 

(Figure 6.24). Street trees also appear to have been managed and replaced as 

needed. In 1938, the Army and WPA teamed up to maintain the island’s trees, 

evidenced by documentation of a Japanese beetle eradication campaign. 

According the New York Times, the WPA sprayed for the insects after the Army 

tried unsuccessfully for two years to control the pests, in which time the beetles 
SITE HISTORY

107 

“have ruined the golf course and lawn and have defoliated some of the island’s 

elm and linden trees.”11 

The post continued to serve as a home for soldiers and their families in the 1930s. 

As seen in period photography and maps, Fort Jay retained obsolete defensive 

features like cannon and scattered cannon balls, but was clearly a domestic space 

by this time (Figures 6.25, 6.26, and 6.27). The terreplein behind the barracks 

became places for children to play and spaces to park automobiles (Figure 6.28). 

The ground plane was maintained as roughly mowed lawn and kept free of other 

vegetation (Figure 6.29). Cannon balls were used as decorative elements around 

the perimeter of the interior courtyard (Figure 6.30). This edge treatment echoed 

earlier efforts to define the courtyard, like the low painted, wood fence that lined 

the courtyard in the 1860s (See Figures 4.12 and 4.13). Mature trees, placed 

without a strict pattern or geometry, and a scattering of deciduous shrubs 

softened the formality of the well-defined, rectilinear space. 

A series of photographs from 1940 depicts life for residents of Governors Island 

and illustrates the condition of numerous recreational features. Residents were 

able to swim, watch polo, and play tennis and golf on the island (Figure 6.31 and 

6.32). 12 Recreational features were located near living areas that were organized 

by the military hierarchy. For example, the officers’ tennis courts and golf course 

were located on the historic Parade Ground, between officers’ housing in 

Colonels’ Row and Nolan Park, while enlisted men’s tennis courts were located 

south of Liggett Hall, next to the open expanse of the polo field and undeveloped 

land on the south side of the island (Figures 6.33, 6.34, and 6.35). 

WORLD WAR II 

Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 led Great Britain and France to 

declare war, beginning World War II. The number of countries involved in the 

war increased rapidly, and soon all of Europe was embroiled in the conflict. 

Although the United States initially did not enter the war, by 1940 a military 

build-up was in place to supply the allied powers with war munitions and to 

increase the size of the U.S. Army. As a result, additional personnel and new 

infrastructure were added to Governors Island. 

As part of the national effort to increase recruitment, 165 new soldiers were 

inducted into the 16th infantry at Governors Island in June 1940.13 The system 

was formalized with the establishment of the Fort Jay Induction Unit in 1941.14 

Also beginning in 1941, the Army built seventy-two temporary buildings to 

accommodate approximately 2,000 additional troops on the island.15 Several 

temporary buildings were located around Castle Williams, not unlike conditions 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

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during World War I. The Army built additional nurses’ quarters, a cafeteria, and 

hospital annex buildings (Figures 6.36, 6.37, and 6.38). 

The United States entered World War II on December 8, 1941, a day after the 

catastrophic bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. By this time, the Fort Jay 

Induction Unit was processing six hundred inductees a day.16 This frenzied pace 

of recruitment continued in the months after Congress declared war and by 

January 1942, the island’s induction unit performed over one thousand medical 

examinations in a single day.17 The crush of recruit processing highlighted the 

island’s shortcomings, notably the lack of quarters and inadequate 

transportation. In response, the Army transferred their main processing facility to 

Grand Central Station in September 1942.18 

Instead of serving as a port or supply facility for the storage and movement of 

goods and troops as in World War I, Governors Island functioned as an 

administrative center during World War II. The Army designated the island as 

the headquarters for the Eastern Theater of Operations, charged with protecting 

the home front, including the numerous manufacturing facilities along the 

eastern seaboard.19 Governors Island was also home to a second administrative 

unit during the war, the Second Service Command that oversaw training, 

transportation, and functions of the inductee processing centers.20 When the 

First Army was deployed to Europe, further space was made available on the 

island and several lesser administrative and command activities relocated to 

Governors Island including the Exclusion Hearing Board, Reclassification Board, 

and the Women’s Army Corps.21

The Army made use of the south side of the island for temporary war-time 

structures, as they had during World War I, and built several warehouses and 

barracks (Figure 6.39). As lamented by the New York Times in 1941, ... “new 

barracks have usurped the polo field.”22 The compromised polo field also served 

as the stage for large-scale training exercises and ceremonies (Figure 6.40). 

To meet the enormous need for raw materials for military equipment 

manufacturing, the war department acquisitioned scrap metal from across the 

country, including historic armament from historic sites and military bases. 

Governors Island retained scores of obsolete cannon and cannon balls at Fort Jay 

and Castle Williams that were deemed necessary for the war effort. In 1942, the 

Army dismantled a majority of the island’s guns and sent them to be melted down 

(Figures 6.41 and 6.42). 

War-time use of Fort Jay continued to be predominantly residential, although the 

Army continued to use the protected area inside the dry moat for target practice 

(Figure 6.43). Period photographs show that subtle changes had occurred in Fort 

Jay’s inner courtyard since the 1930s. The Army removed the cannon balls lining 

the perimeter of the grass area and replaced this edge treatment with curbing. 
SITE HISTORY

109 

Shrubs had been removed from the interior green space, leaving only scattered 

shade trees and lawn inside the courtyard (Figure 6.44). 

Castle Williams continued to serve as a military prison throughout World War II. 

As it was historically, the only door faced east, looking down Andes Road (Figure 

6.45). The ivy-covered building was surrounded on the east, south, and west by 

wood frame temporary buildings. The streetscape outside the fort had been 

altered by the new buildings but familiar elements like mature street trees and 

brick and concrete sidewalks remained from earlier decades. The Army used 

several fencing styles to keep pedestrians off grass areas, including low, post and 

wire fencing and low, pipe-rail fencing (Figure 6.46 and see Figure 6.36). See 

Figures 6.47 and 6.48 for period mapping of Governors Island during World War 

II. 

GOVERNORS ISLAND AFTER WORLD WAR II 

World War II ended in the fall of 1945. Despite the wide-spread downsizing of 

national military functions after 1945, Governors Island remained an important 

Army post until 1966 while it served as the headquarters of the First Army. 

Between 1945 and 1966, the Army made few large-scale changes to the island. 

Most of the structures built during the war remained in place throughout the 

Army’s tenure, notably the nurses’ quarters and hospital annex buildings 

surrounding Castle Williams (Figure 6.49). Even the majority of the war-era 

structures erected on the south side of the island remained in place with the 

exception of a few in the southwest area that were replaced by three multistory 

barracks towers in the mid-1950s (Figure 6.50). The location and character of the 

island’s large open spaces, the golf course/Parade Ground and the polo field 

south of Liggett Hall, remained constant as did the cluster arrangement of 

buildings and circulation patterns established by the early 1940s. 

Changes to the landscape occurred to address the need for increased parking, 

including the removal of a large administration building north of Building 110. 

Likewise, the barbican east of Fort’s Jay’s main gate was modified in the 1960s to 

accommodate parking. The outline of the feature remained the same but the large 

raised-earth inner circle that once blocked clear views into the sallyport was 

removed and replaced by a small brick-edged raised planter. The reduction of the 

size of the center circle to allowed room for cars to park along the perimeter of 

the space (Figure 6.51). It was also during this period that the Army placed a tall 

chain link fence along the edge of Andes Road, between the privet hedge and the 

street trees, to protect pedestrians from errant golf balls (Figure 6.52). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

110 

The Army consolidated command of the First Army in 1966, transferring its 

Governors Island operations to Fort Meade, Maryland, ending over 170 years of 

Army occupation.23

LANDSCAPE DESCRIPTION IN 1966 

Since the end of World War I, the facilities of Governors Island evolved to meet 

the needs of the Army during World War II and beyond. Most of the significant 

alteration to the island occurred before, during, and after the times of conflict 

with more subtle changes undertaken on an as-needed basis in times of peace. By 

1966, most of the island’s landmass was developed. Division Road, south of 

Liggett Hall, formed a clear boundary between the original part of the island and 

the area filled at the turn-of-the-century (Figures 6.53 and 6.54). 

Minimal vegetation, post-World War II architecture, and wide open views 

characterized the landscape south of Division Road. World War II and post-war 

buildings dominated the perimeter of the space, leaving the center of the island a 

wide open slate for sporting activities, a landing field, and military exercises. 

North of Liggett Hall, much of the island was still characterized by patterns 

established by the 1930s, including the historic forts, the domestic spaces of 

Nolan Park and Colonels’ Row, the open space of the Parade Ground that was 

routinely enjoyed for its recreational opportunities, and mature street and shade 

trees. Examples of World War II development prevailed as well, notably around 

Castle Williams. Numerous temporary wood frame buildings provided services 

for the post including administrative, hospital, and food service functions, 

contrasting in their design, scale, and massing from the masonry historic 

buildings they were adjacent to. 

Fort Jay’s main approach was modified to include vehicular parking but the 

interior courtyard remained largely unchanged in character from previous 

generations. Mature trees and mowed lawn in a modified four-square pattern 

were bounded by a square-shaped perimeter road of asphalt. The terreplein had 

been altered by the removal of most of the numerous guns that once radiated 

from the top of the fort’s grass covered walls. Vegetation in the area was limited 

to mowed grass. 

The golf course was now bounded on its north side by a chain link fence as it 

followed Andes Road and its imperfectly spaced line of street trees. A clipped 

privet hedge ran along the curb and low retaining wall that formed the border of 

the south side of the road. 

The area between the forts, once kept cleared of obstructions for defensive lines 

of sight, was crowded with buildings, roads, and parking, making this one of the 
SITE HISTORY

111 

busier areas of the island. But behind this twentieth-century service district stood 

Castle Williams, covered in verdant ivy, anchoring the northwest corner of the 

island to New York Harbor and the mouth of the Hudson River. 

ENDNOTES 

1

 Construction Completion Report, 1918, “Fort Jay 1,” National Archives II, RG 77, Box 140, Entry 393. 

2

 Ibid. 

3 New York Times, March 6, 1927, p 22, ProQuest.

4

 Jannelle Warren-Findley, “Governors Island, New York Harbor: A Historic Resource Survey from the Beginning to 

1996,” Final Draft, 2007, National Park Service, Northeast Region, 199. 

5 New York Times, April 29, 1923, ProQuest. 

6 New York Times, July 5, 1925, ProQuest.. 

7

 Ibid. 

8

 Ibid. 

9

 Warren-Findley, 204. 

10 New York Times, January 11, 1936, 32, ProQuest.

11 New York Times, May 1, 1938, “WPA Assists Army in War on Beetles,” 45, ProQuest. 

12 The golf course was outfitted with an irrigation system in 1940. Warren-Findley, 147. 

13 New York Times, June 21, 1940, 3, ProQuest. 

14 New York Times, June 2, 1941, 10, ProQuest. 

15 Warren-Findley, 212. 

16 New York Times, December 7, 1941, 60, ProQuest. 

17 New York Times, January 4, 1942, 41, ProQuest. 

18 New York Times, September 18, 1942, 23, ProQuest. 

19 Warren-Findley, 215-216. 

20 Ibid. 

21 Ibid., 217-218. 

22 New York Times, April 20, 1941, ProQuest.

23 Ibid., 219. 
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Figure 6.1. 1921 Map of Governors Island. The World War I temporary building near Fort Jay’s main gate had been removed by 1921 

but the cluster of buildings northwest of the fort’s outer walls remained. Notice the annotation of the polo fi eld on the parade ground 

(National Archives I, Washington DC, GR 77, Entry 1007, box 84, fi le 660 (NY Harbor, Defenses of)).

Figure 6.2. Castle Williams prison yard, 1919. Several buildings south of Castle Williams were converted into 

prison barracks and enclosed with barbed wire to increase the capacity of the military prison after World War I 

(National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 140, Construction Completion Report, 1918, “Fort Jay 1”).
113

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.3. Castle Williams and the northwest side of the island, circa 1917. The area surrounding Castle 

Williams was a utilitarian work-yard. The World War I expanded hospital is visible behind the smoke stack 

(Library of Congress, “Governors Island, Castle Williams, from hydro-aeroplane,” Call number U.S. GEOGFILE-New York, New York City - Governors Island).

Castle Williams

Hospital

Post Exchange

Figure 6.4. Castle Williams, 1924. By the early 1920s, the appearance of the Castle’s entry had been cleaned up with the 

addition of street lighting, curbing, and ornamental stacks of cannon balls (NARA, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).
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Figure 6.5. Non-Commissioned Offi cers’ Quarters, Governors Island, 1924. This wood frame structure stood east of Castle 

Williams and illustrates the improved streetscape that included sidewalks, street lighting, and curbed streets (National 

Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).

Figure 6.6. Governors Island, as seen from the northwest, 1928. This bird’s eye aerial photograph shows the character of the 

area surrounding Castle Williams that had changed signifi cantly from the World War I-era. The temporary prison buildings 

and work shops south (right) of Castle Williams had been removed and replaced by lawn. Careful examination shows a view 

of golfers on the golf course of Fort Jay (National Archives II, RG 18 LMU 0-31-870-N, Still Pictures, Box 3, Folder 5).
115

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.7. Tinsmith Shop, Governors Island, 1922. This view of the tinsmith shop along the north shore of the island shows 

the privet hedge and newly planted street trees along Andes Road (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102). 

Figure 6.8. Civilian employees’ quarters, Governors Island, 1921. This line of well-maintained and ornamented wood frame 

row houses stood on the southeast side of the parade ground (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).
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116

Figure 6.9. Fort Jay courtyard, 1922. The temporary World War I building had been removed by this date. Notice 

the scattering of shrubs and random placement of shade trees (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).

Figure 6.10. Liggett Hall, 1938. Liggett Hall became the largest building on the island, marking the boundary of 

the new and original landmass (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102). 
117

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.11. 1928 oblique aerial photograph of Governors Island. This view shows the progress of demolition of World War I structures. 

The line of buildings on the southwest side (center left of image) of the island remained in 1928, as did those northwest of Fort Jay. 

Many World War I warehouses east of the ones pictured at the center left of the image had been removed by 1928 (National Archives II, 

RG 77, entry 393, Box 102).

Figure 6.12. “Mule being cleaned by electric vacuum cleaner, 1924.” “Toughy” the mule was cleaned outside the temporary work 

buildings southwest of Colonels’ Row (pictured at image left). These buildings were removed to make way for the construction of 

Liggett Hall (Image courtesy of Bettman/Corbis, U241021INP RM).
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Figure 6.13. Plan of Governors Island, 1928. This plan shows clearly the island’s infrastructure after World War I. This plan depicts 

condition prior to the construction of Liggett Hall but after many of the temporary buildings on the south side of the island had already 

been demolished (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).

Figure 6.14. Railroad wrecking gang, 1931. Workmen dismantle the railroad tracks on the south side of the island (New York Public 

Library, 732039F, US Army, Signal Corps Photo).
119

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.15. Caddy House, Governors Island, 1935. The golf course caddy house was tucked in the southeast corner of the parade 

ground, abutting the tennis courts, near Nolan Park (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102). 

Figure 6.16. Polo Field, Governors Island, 1930. The spectators are sitting along side the new polo fi eld south of Liggett Hall. The wide 

open space was also used for military demonstrations and air shows, as pictured above (New York Public Library 732073F, Photographic 

Views of New York City, 1870s-1970s, Governors Island).
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Figure 6.17. Aerial photograph, Governors Island, 1932. The new hospital building is shown under construction 

in the lower center of the image, to the south of Castle Williams. This image also illustrates the remnants of the 

covered defi le between the forts and paths scored into the surface of the parade ground from the golf course 

(National Archives II, Still Pictures, RG 18 LMU V6-870-N, Box 3, Folder 15, Governors Island).

Figure 6.18. The new hospital, designed by McKim, Mead, and White, 1934 (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).
121

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.19. The post fi re station, 1939. The fi re station stood adjacent to the new hospital (out of frame at image left) and near 

Castle Williams (at image right) (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).

Figure 6.20. Non-commissioned offi cers’ quarters, 1939. Old wood frame quarters like these were renovated by the Works 

Progress Administration (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).
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Figure 6.21. Barracks buildings, 1938. Some soldiers were still being housed in World War I-era wooden barracks despite the substantial 

building campaign of the early 1930s (National Archives II, RG77, Entry 393, Box 102).

Figure 6.22. Boiler room, 1938. These small buildings served as a boiler room and living quarters (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, 

Box 102).
123

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.23. Army labor troops planting trees at Governors Island, 1938 (Center for Military History, RG 317S.458, 

McCoy Collection).

Figure 6.24. Library, 1933. This image of the library shows the newly replanted privet hedge along Andes Road. Notice 

the golf tee at image left (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).
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124

Figure 6.25. Terreplein of Fort Jay looking north toward Manhattan, 1935. Armament remained on the terreplein of 

Fort Jay through the 1930s. The Army maintained the surface as roughly cut grass (New York Public Library 732061F, 

Photo by Sperr, Percy Loomis). 

Figure 6.26. 1934 Historic American Building Survey drawing of Fort Jay, Governors Island. This drawing depicts the 

scores of cannon still arrayed around the scarp wall of the fort. Also notable about this drawing is the vegetation in 

the quadrangle. Numerous mid-sized trees are located in a random pattern (Library of Congress, Historic American 

Building Survey, Governors Island, New York Harbor, New York, 1934).
125

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.27. Janita and James carving a pumpkin at Fort Jay, 1930. The children are sitting on the terreplein 

walls of Fort Jay with the Manhattan skyline visible in the background. This photograph depicts the domestic 

use of Fort Jay, which was occupied by soldiers and their families (Image courtesy of Underwood and 

Underwood/Corbis, VV9600RM). 

Figure 6.28. Fort Jay garages, 1939. The Army built automobile garages In the corners of the terreplein, behind 

the Fort Jay barracks, in the 1930s (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102). 
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126

Figure 6.29. Fort Jay, 1935. This image of the back side of one of the Fort Jay barracks shows the landscape treatment 

of the terreplein, with its rough cut grass and no woody growth. On image left, a view of the courtyard is available, 

showing children at play, the decorative cannon ball edging, shade trees, and street lights (National Archives II, RG 77, 

Entry 393, Box 102). 

Figure 6.30. Fort Jay courtyard, 1934. This Historic American Building Survey photograph documents the site 

conditions of the courtyard in the 1930s. Cannon balls marked the edge between the asphalt perimeter driveway and 

the grass inner courtyard space. Randomly spaced shade trees and shrubs are located on the interior of the space. 

Notice the street light on image left with the missing globe (Library of Congress, Historic American Building Survey, 

photograph by E.P. McFarland, March 15, 1934, East Building (west elevation), HABS NY, 31-GOVI, 1-7). 
127

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.32. Offi cers’ tennis court, 1940. These courts, south of Nolan Park, had been in existence since at least 

1928 (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102). 

Figure 6.31. Golf at Governors Island, 1944. These offi cers enjoy a round of golf on the parade ground of 

Governors Island. Colonels’ Row is pictured in the background (Center for Military History, RG 239 S, Grunert 

Collection, P. 42).
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128

Figure 6.34. New polo grounds south of Liggett Hall, 1940. The open expanse of the south side of the island was ideal for polo 

matches, military parades, and drilling (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102). 

Figure 6.33. Enlisted men’s tennis courts, 1940. These courts, located on the south side of the island, were added in the 1930s to 

provide recreational opportunities for the soldiers housed in the newly completed Liggett Hall (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 

393, Box 102). 
129

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.35. Polo match, Governors Island, 1940. This photograph was taken on the new polo fi eld south of Liggett 

Hall. Notice the wide open character and the line of young street trees planted along the shoreline (New York Public 

Library 732074F, “Photographic views of New York City, 1870s-1970s, Governors Island”).

Figure 6.36. Nurses’ quarters, 1942. This World War II-era building was located on the north side of the island, adjacent 

to Castle Williams (seen at image left). Pedestrians were kept off grass areas during this time by pipe rail fencing 

(National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

130

Figure 6.37. Hospital Mess, 1942. This World War II-era structure was built on the rear side (west) of the post hospital (image 

right) and south of Castle Williams (image left). This building added to the haphazard collection of temporary structures 

associated with the hospital. Cannon balls lined the grass area at image left. These were collected for scrap shortly after the 

photograph was taken (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102). 

Figure 6.38. Castle Williams, as seen from the north, circa 1942. This image displays the numerous temporary buildings erected 

near the castle. Notice the nurses’ quarters to the left of the castle and the hospital mess hall to the right (Center for Military 

History, RG 762 S, Richard S. Allen Collection, Box 1).
131

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.39. Warehouse, Governors Island, 1942. Several World War II-era warehouses were built on the south side of 

the island, although far fewer than during World War I (National Archives II, RG 77, Entry 393, Box 102).

Figure 6.40. Ceremony on the polo fi eld, 1944. This photograph documents a military parade on the polo fi eld south of 

Liggett Hall, looking east. Numerous small temporary structures appear in the background as well as materials storage 

piles (Center for Military History, RG 239 S, Grunert Collection, P. 10).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

132

Figure 6.41. Cannon being removed from Fort Jay, 1942. This photograph, looking north, shows workmen 

removing cannons from their mounts along the scarp wall of Fort Jay (Center for Military History, RG 239 S, 

Grunert Collection, P. 43 (1)).

Figure 6.42. Cannon being removed 

from South Battery, 1942. A crane 

was used to lift the heavy cannon 

from the walls of Fort Jay. Notice the 

vines still clinging to the surface of 

the historic gun (Center for Military 

History, RG 239 S, Grunert Collection, 

P. 43 (2)).
133

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.43. Target practice in the Fort Jay moat, 1944 (Center 

for Military History, RG 239 S, Grunert Collection, P. 37 (1)).

Figure 6.44. Fort Jay courtyard, 1944. Some changes since 

the 1930s are visible in this image. The decorative cannon 

balls had been removed, likely collected for scrap, curbing 

was added, and the understory shrubs had been removed 

(Center for Military History, RG 239 S, Grunert Collection, P. 

37 (2)).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

134

Figure 6.45. Left. The entryway of Castle Williams, 1944. 

This view looking east from Castle Williams provides a clear 

view along the north side of Andes Road. The World War IIera nurses’ quarters and the brick offi cers’ quarters that date 

to the 1930s are visible on the left side of the road (Center 

for Military History, RG 239 S, Grunert Collection, P. 34 (1)).

Figure 6.46. Below. Castle Williams from the south, 1944. 

This war-time photograph documents the temporary 

hospital annex buildings adjacent to Castle Williams. Also, 

streetscape elements like street trees, brick sidewalks, and 

low fencing along grass areas are visible (Center for Military 

History, RG 239 S, Grunert Collection, P. 34 (3)).
Fort Jay

Golf Course

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Buttermilk Channel

Upper New York Harbor

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Evans Road

Andes Road

Carder Road

Colonels’ Row

Andes Road

Hay Road Tampa Road

Comfort Road

Liggett Hall

Craig Road

Gresham Road 14th Road

11th Road

Division Road 3rd Road Central Avenue

Wheeler Road

King Avenue

Cartigan Road

Clayton Avenue

Craig Road

Tennis Courts

Radio Station

Boy Scout House 10th Road

9th Road

8th Road 7th Road

1st Road

15th Road

Post Theatre

NCO Club

N.C.O. Club

Officers’ Club

Craft Shop

Polo and Temporary Landing Field YMCA

4th Road

5th Road

6th Road

Hospital

Cafeteria

Headquarters Building

Headquarters Building

Commissary

Registration

Chapel

15th Road

15th Road

Soissons DockFerry Slip

Kimball Road

Fort Jay

Golf Course

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Evans Road

Andes Road

Carder Road

Colonels’ Row

Andes Road

Hay Road Tampa Road

Comfort Road

Liggett Hall Division Road 3rd Road Central Avenue

Wheeler Road

King Avenue

Cartigan Road

Clayton Avenue

Craig Road 1st Road

Post Theatre

N.C.O. Club

Officers’ Club

Craft Shop

Polo and Temporary Landing Field YMCA

4th Road

Hospital

Cafeteria

Headquarters Building

Headquarters Building

Commissary

Registration

Hostess School Chapel

Soissons DockFerry Slip

Kimball Road

Tennis Court

139

SITE HISTORY

Figure 6.49. Oblique aerial photograph of Governors Island, 1966. This view displays the numerous World War II-era 

structures surrounding Castle Williams that remained in use through the end of the Army’s time at Governors Island (Center 

for Military History, RG 239 S, Grunert Collection, P. 34 (3)).

Figure 6.50. Governors Island, looking north, 1966. This oblique aerial view shows the numerous World War II buildings that 

remained on the south side of the island. The Army added three multi-story barracks buildings on the west side of the island 

(image left) in the 1950s (Center for Military History, RG 97 S, Forts Misc Collection, Fort Jay).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

140

Figure 6.51. Fort Jay, 1966. The Army redesigned the interior of the barbican at Fort Jay’s main gate. 

The large center island was replaced with a small raised planter and the amount of asphalt was 

increased to provide vehicular parking (Center for Military History, RG 97 S, Forts Misc Collection, Fort 

Jay).

Figure 6.52. Soissons Dock, 1966. Fort Jay is visible in the background, as is the tall chain link 

fence erected to keep golf balls in the golf course (Center for Military History, RG 97 S, Forts Misc 

Collection, Fort Jay).
Fort Jay

Golf Course

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Buttermilk Channel

Upper New York Harbor

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Evans Road

Andes Road

Carder Road

Colonels’ Row

Andes Road

Hay Road Kimball Road

Comfort Road

Liggett Hall

Craig Road

Gresham Road 14th Road

Recreation Area Enright Road 11th Road

Division Road 3rd Road Central Avenue

Wheeler Road

King Avenue

Cartigan Road

Clayton Avenue

Craig Road

Tennis Courts

Gardening Area

Picnic Area

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Little League Baseball

10th Road

9th Road

8th Road 7th Road 6th Road

1st Road

Commissary

15th Road

15th Road

Post Theatre

Officers’ Club

Craft Shop

Soissons DockFerry Slip

Hospital

Tampa Road

Fort Jay

Golf Course

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Evans Road

Andes Road

Carder Road

Colonels’ Row

Andes Road

Hay Road Kimball Road

Comfort Road

Liggett Hall

Recreation Area Enright Road

Division Road 3rd Road Central Avenue

Wheeler Road

King Avenue

Cartigan Road

Clayton Avenue

Craig Road

Tennis Courts

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Little League Baseball

1st Road

Post Theatre

Officers’ Quarters

N.C.O. Club

Officers’ Club

Craft Shop

Soissons DockFerry Slip

Hospital

Bu

Tampa Road

SITE HISTORY

145 

1967-2010 

THE COAST GUARD AT GOVERNORS ISLAND 

The Army left Governors Island in 1966, transferring the island to the U.S. Coast 

Guard on June 30, 1966. According to spectators, they left with great fanfare, 

albeit unintentional, when the ceremonial firing of a Rodman gun at Fort Jay 

broke most of the windows in the fort and the hot gun wadding lit the moat’s 

grass on fire.1

 The Coast Guard consolidated all of its operations for the New 

York metro area at Governors Island, creating the largest U.S. Coast Guard base 

in the country.2

The Coast Guard inherited resources on Governors Island that represented 

almost two hundred years of physical change. The island’s original landmass held 

a collection of buildings and landscape features dating from the American 

Revolution through World War II. It was home to park-like housing districts, 

tree-lined avenues, a golf course, and the imposing historic Fort Jay and Castle 

Williams (Figure 7.1). South of Liggett Hall, Governors Island took on a vastly 

different character. Wide open, flat terrain afforded views across the space and 

post-1940 architecture, both temporary and permanent in design and intent, 

ringed the perimeter of the district. 

Prepared four years before the transfer to the Coast Guard, a 1962 map of the 

island displays the vegetative cover, layout of buildings and roads, and location of 

recreational facilities (Figure 7.2). At Fort Jay, several trees had been allowed to 

grow along the terreplein, where for over one hundred years the area had been 

cleared of woody growth and maintained as cut grass. The same irregular spacing 

of shade trees persisted inside the courtyard. An imperfectly spaced ring of trees 

was located along the exterior of the recently redesigned barbican at the fort’s 

main gate. Street trees lined the south and west side of Andes Road as it wrapped 

around the north side of the golf course, passing the main dock, Soissons Dock. 

Temporary buildings remained around Castle Williams, evoking World War IIconditions. Two structures lined the northwest border of the parade ground next 

to a line of London plane trees. The ‘H’ shaped former hospital, two-story 

nurses’ quarters, and numerous hospital annex buildings remained to the south 

and east of the castle. The Army had created numerous recreational 

opportunities throughout the island including the golf course, tennis courts, 

baseball diamonds, a swimming pool, and children’s play areas. 

Photographs document changes made by the Coast Guard to meet their mission 

requirements and the needs of their personnel. By the late 1970s they had 

removed most of the World War II-era temporary buildings, with a few notable 

exceptions (Figure 7.3). As seen in a 1977 image, a parking lot replaced the ‘H’ 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

146 

shaped former hospital east of Castle Williams but the nurses’ quarters and 

library building remained. The Coast Guard built three new multi-story brick 

barracks buildings adjacent to the south side of Castle Williams. 

At Fort Jay, the Coast Guard allowed existing trees to grow on the terreplein and 

families used the grass areas under the scarp walls for gardening, hanging 

laundry, and entertaining, evidenced by the presence of clothes lines, domestic 

plantings, and a stone barbeque (Figure 7.4). Play equipment was added to the 

interior courtyard green space to accommodate service members’ children 

(Figure 7.5). The Governors Island golf course remained a popular feature and 

was supplemented with the planting of several tree lines to direct play and shield 

structures from errant golf balls. Three lines of trees are visible in birds-eye 

photographs from the late 1970s and early 1980s, one along the north side of 

Colonels’ Row, another in the northwest corner of the golf course near the 

library, and the last along the northern edge of the golf course, facing Soissons 

Dock (Figures 7.6 and 7.7). 

More noticeably, the Coast Guard embarked on a massive building campaign on 

the south side of the island where numerous small World-War II-era buildings on 

the east and west shores were replaced with modern barracks and family housing. 

Amidst this redevelopment, the Coast Guard retained the spatial integrity of the 

central open space, the former polo field, and landing strip. The Coast Guard 

added two large docks on the southeast side of the island to accommodate their 

numerous vessels. 

The Coast Guard continued the Army’s high level of maintenance. Photographs 

show the lawn area neatly cut, hedges trimmed, and street trees pruned and 

replaced when necessary. 

One hundred and twenty-one acres of the northern side of Governors Island 

were designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1985. The district 

encompassed the island’s original landmass and a sliver of the land filled at the 

turn-of-the-twentieth century including Liggett Hall. Division Road on the south 

side of Liggett Hall formed the southern boundary of the district. The NHL 

documentation listed the period of significance as 1794-Present, including the 

island’s history as a defensive post and Army administrative center. 

The New York City Landmark Preservation Commission designated the land 

north of Division Road as the Governors Island Historic District, a New York 

City Historic District, on June 18, 1996. The boundary mirrored that of the 

National Historic Landmark District. 
SITE HISTORY

147 

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL 

MONUMENT 

To reduce costs, the Coast Guard announced plans to abandon Governors Island 

as their base of operations in New York in 1995. In response, the Coast Guard, 

General Services Administration, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the 

New York State Historic Preservation, the City of New York, and the National 

Trust, entered into a Programmatic Agreement to study the future of Governors 

Island and to make allowances for the maintenance and management of the 

island’s resources.3

 

Ownership of the island remained with the federal government but Congress 

required that the island be sold at fair market value by 2002.4

 Although the City 

and State of New York were offered the first opportunity to purchase the island, 

the 300 million dollar price tag deterred the parties from taking action.5

 President 

Clinton agreed to give the island to the City and State for one dollar if they could 

generate an appropriate plan for redevelopment, something the two groups 

proved unable to successfully do.6

After the unsuccessful introduction of legislation to establish a National 

Monument at Fort Jay and Castle Williams and transfer the rest of the island to 

the City and State of New York, President Clinton created the Governors Island 

National Monument by Presidential Proclamation on his last days in office in 

2001.7

 The National Monument boundary included the historic forts, the 

northern portion of the parade ground, and a building for administrative 

purposes. The fate of the remainder of the island remained in flux until April 

2002 when President George Bush acted on the prior recommendation to give 

the island to the State and City of New York for one dollar.8

 President Bush also 

issued a proclamation on February 7, 2003 that enlarged the National Monument 

boundary to 22.78 acres.9

 

The island stood nearly vacant between 1996 and 2003. During this time, the 

Coast Guard and the General Services Administration shared maintenance duties 

to minimally maintain the island’s resources, yet the sheer size of the island, the 

amount of building square footage, and age of the resources proved prohibitive 

and substantial deterioration occurred. 

Beginning in 2003, The National Park Service and their partner group, Governors 

Island Preservation and Education Corporation, or GIPEC, took over the 

management of the island. According to their website, GIPEC, a subsidiary of 

Empire State Development: “[I]s responsible for the planning, redevelopment 

and ongoing operations for 150 acres of Governors Island. A partnership of New 

York City and New York State, GIPEC seeks to bring Governors Island back to 

life, making this island at the center of New York Harbor a destination with great 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

148 

public open space, as well as future education, not for profit and commercial 

facilities.”10 

GIPEC was reorganized and renamed the Trust for Governors Island in 2010 

after the island was transferred to the sole ownership of New York City. 

Currently, the National Monument and the Trust for Governors Island manage 

the island under a cooperative management agreement. Where it is mutually 

beneficial, the Trust for Governors Island and the National Monument combine 

service providers and contracting. The National Monument uses the Trust for 

Governors Island’s contractors for ferry service, garbage removal, utilities 

management, pest control, and turf maintenance. The two groups meet regularly 

to discuss preservation, stabilization, and alteration of shared resources like 

seawalls and utilities. 

An Archeological Overview and Assessment was completed in 2003 that 

catalogued thirty-nine sites on National Monument land. These sites date to the 

Native American, Pre-contact period (pre-1500 AD), the Revolutionary period 

(1700-1783), the War of 1812 (1783-1815), the nineteenth century and Civil War 

(1815-1900), and the early twentieth century (1900-1966).11 Additionally, 

according to the Archeological Overview and Assessment, “It was found that 

virtually all of GOIS possesses high sensitivity to contain additional unrecorded 

Native American and historic archeological sites.”12

In 2008, a team completed a study of the covered defile to determine the extent of 

damage to the resource inflicted during a 2006 golf course re-contouring project. 

Numerous impacts to the feature were noted, but many seemed to pre-date 2006. 

The subsequent report recommended not attempting to repair impacts from the 

2006 project and trying to protect the feature from further ground disturbance.13

The National Park Service has completed renovation projects on the historic 

forts including rebuilding the Fort Jay moat bridge, rehabilitating the Fort Jay 

Barracks, replacing sandstone lintels at Castle Williams, and replacing the central 

staircase at Castle Williams.14 Some remnant golf course features were removed 

from the parade ground, including a perimeter chain link fence, a row of blue 

spruce trees near the library, and a set of wooden stairs. The park also undertook 

hazard tree removal and pruning around Fort Jay to address health and safety 

concerns. 

The Trust for Governors Island has also begun rehabilitating the buildings and 

landscapes in their care. They demolished the Super 8 Motel and tennis courts at 

the southern extent of the Parade Ground, the former public school, bachelors’ 

quarters south of Division Road, and the buildings of Liberty Village at the 

southern end of the Island. The Trust for Governors Island has made 

improvements to the exterior of the Nolan Park residences, performed ongoing 

work on the seawall, rehabilitated Yankee and Soisson Docks, and repaired slate 
SITE HISTORY

149 

roofs, masonry and woodwork throughout the district. Infrastructure 

improvements have been completed including upgrading the underground water 

storage tanks on the Parade Ground and repairing and replacing water mains. 

The National Monument’s general management plan was completed in 2009. 

This document provides direction on numerous interpretive and facility 

management goals for the future. One such approved action that will have a 

significant impact on the cultural landscape is the removal of Building 251 

(Library) and Buildings 513 A, B, and C (Coast Guard housing). The park awaits 

funding to carry out these demolition projects that will restore the historic 

connection between Fort Jay and Castle Williams. 

LANDSCAPE DESCRIPTION IN 2010 

Governors Island is characterized by two distinct districts defined by the pre and 

post-1909 land masses (Figures 7.8 and 7.9). The post-1909 land mass, or south 

side of the island is dominated by flat topography, post-World War II 

architecture and sparse vegetation. It contrasts with the north side of the island 

that holds the varied historic resources of Governors Island National Monument 

and the Governors Island National Historic Landmark district. Most of the 

landscape patterns and structures in this area pre-date 1930 and represent a rich 

history of the military on Governors Island. The historic district is centered 

around the open space of the Parade Ground. The park-like former residential 

districts of Nolan Park and Colonels’ Row back onto the Parade Ground. Castle 

Williams and Fort Jay represent the oldest structures on site, and although they 

have been modified throughout the island’s history, they retain a high degree of 

integrity to their historic design intent. Fort Jay stands prominently near the 

center of the historic district and is clearly visible from many angles due to the 

surrounding Parade Ground. Castle Williams anchors the northwest side of the 

island and still commands sweeping views of Manhattan, New Jersey, and the 

lower New York Harbor from its upper deck. 

ENDNOTES 

1

 Jannelle Warren-Findley, “Governors Island, New York Harbor: A Historic Resource Survey from the Beginning to 

1996,” Final Draft, 2007, National Park Service, Northeast Region, 220-221. 

2

 Ibid., 220. 

3

 “Governors Island National Monument Draft General Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement,” 

Summer 2007, 106. 

4

 Ibid., 108. 

5

 Ibid. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

150 

6

 Ibid. 

7

 Ibid., 109. 

8

 Ibid. 

9

 Ibid., 110. 

10 GIPEC website- http://www.govisland.com/About_GIPEC/default.asp 

11 Shannon Wright and Timothy Binzen, “Archeological Overview and Assessment of Governors Island National 

Monument, New York, New York,” the Environmental Institute, University of Massachusetts, 2003, chapter 5. 

12 Ibid., vii. 

13 “Final Archeological Resources Protection Act Site Damage Assessment Report, Governors Island National 

Monument,” Tetra Tech Inc., 2008, prepared for Dr. William Griswold, Ph.D., NPS, Northeast Region Archeology 

Program, 19. 

14 Email correspondence with GOIS facility manager Ed Lorenizini, 9/11/2008. 
151

SITE HISTORY

Figure 7.1. Castle Williams from the north, 1968. This view of the island, taken shortly after the Coast Guard 

took over the island, shows the presence of numerous World War II-era buildings in the vicinity of Castle 

Williams (USCG Orientation Guide, Governors Island National Monument image collection).

Figure 7.2. “General Tree-Cover and Recreation Map, Fort Jay, 1962.” This plan illustrates changes made to the island near the end of the 

Army’s tenure on the island. It depicts extensive tree planting north of Liggett Hall and the numerous recreational facilities throughout 

the island (Governors Island National Monument image collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

152

Figure 7.3. Barracks, Governors Island, c. 1975. The Coast Guard removed most of the World War II-era buildings left by 

the Army, including the ones pictured above (Steve Decarteret photograph, Governors Island National Monument image 

collection).

Figure 7.4. “Fort Columbus Building No 202, east side, looking southwest, 1983.” This Historic 

American Building Survey photograph captured the alterations people made to the fort landscape 

to make it comfortable domestic space. Notice the wooden deck and planter boxes, and the small 

garden in the gun mount that is enclosed with a hairpin-style wire border (Library of Congress, 

Historic American Building Survey, NY, 31-GOVI, 1A-4).
153

SITE HISTORY

Figure 7.5. “Governors Island, Fort Columbus, Building 202, west front, 1983.” This Historic American Building 

Survey photograph shows the Fort Jay courtyard in the 1980s, capturing the curbed green space, shade trees, and 

children’s play equipment (Library of Congress, Historic American Building Survey, NY, 31-GOVI, 1A-3, ).

Figure 7.6. Fort Jay oblique aerial, looking north, 1977. This image captures golf course elements on the parade 

ground. Greens, bunkers, and tree lines are located throughout the space. Notice the scattered tree growth on 

the walls of Fort Jay. The new barracks built on the south side of Castle Williams can be seen at image left (Frank 

Bennett photograph, Governors Island National Monument image collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

154

Figure 7.7. “Governors Island, Fort Columbus, aerial views, looking northwest, 1983.” Tree lines added to the golf course 

in the late-1970s and early 1980s are visible at image left, image right, and above Fort Jay (Library of Congress, Historic 

American Building Survey, NY, 31-GOVI, 1-11).
Fort Jay

Parade Ground

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Buttermilk Channel

Upper New York Bay

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Evans Road

Andes Road

Carder Road

Colonels’ Row

Andes Road

Hay Road Kimball Road

Comfort Road

Liggett Hall

Craig Road

Gresham Road Half Moon Road Recreation Area

Enright Road

Yeaton Road

Icarus Road

Escanaba Road

Chincoteaque Road Bear Road

Division Road Absecon Road Earlybird Road

Wheeler Road

King Avenue Owasco Road

Cartigan Road

Clayton Avenue

Craig Road

Soissons DockFerry Slip

Building 140

B

Buildings 513 A, B, C

Building 251

Tampa Road

Fort Jay

Parade Ground

Nolan Park

Castle Williams

Covered Defile

Flagstaff

Evans Road

Andes Road

Carder Road

Colonels’ Row

Andes Road

Hay Road

Kimball Road

Comfort Road

Liggett Hall Division Road Absecon Road Earlybird Road

Wheeler Road

King Avenue Owasco Road

Cartigan Road

Clayton Avenue

Butt

Soissons DockFerry Slip

Building 140

Buildings 513 A, B, C

Building 251

Tampa Road

EXISTING CONDITIONS

159 

EXISTING CONDITIONS 

INTRODUCTION 

Governors Island is a 172-acre island located in the upper New York Harbor, 

one-half of a mile south of Manhattan. The island’s shape resembles an ice cream 

cone, with the south side of the island the cone, and the north, the ice cream. The 

south side was created from fill in the early 1900s and is dominated by sparse 

vegetation, flat terrain, and post-World War II architecture. This contrasts with 

the north side, or National Historic Landmark District, which is characterized by 

pre-1930s Classical Revival architecture, mature trees, managed turf, and gently 

sloping topography. The 22.78-acre Governors Island National Monument 

resides within the National Historic Landmark District and contains the historic 

forts of Castle Williams and Fort Jay, several acres at the northern end of the 

Parade Ground, and the land between the two forts. 

The following existing conditions chapter documents the resources within the 

Governors Island National Monument. Along with the main parcel containing 

the forts and the land surrounding them, three non-contiguous parcels are 

included in the National Monument boundary: Building 140, Dock 102, and 

Building 107 (See Figure 7.9). Building 140 is located immediately east of Soissons 

Dock, the main ferry slip. It serves as the visitor contact station. Dock 102 is 

located east of Fort Jay, in the historic wharf district. Building 107 is the park’s 

administration building and is located northeast of Fort Jay on the east side of 

Andes Road. The following narrative is organized spatially, as if a visitor enters 

the site from the Soissons Dock and walks through the site, using the sub-spaces 

described above to organize the discussion. 

BUILDING 140 

Visitors arrive at Governors Island via ferry boat at Soissons Dock on the north 

side of the island. After exiting the boat, the first building encountered on the left 

is Building 140, structure owned by the Trust for Governors Island but which 

houses a 1,000 square foot National Park Service easement. The National 

Monument’s bookstore and visitor contact services are located within the 

easement (Figures 8.1 and 8.2). 

The structure was built between 1857 and 1867 as a storehouse for the Arsenal. 

This utilitarian brick building with arched windows includes elements associated 

with the Romanesque Revival style. The entrances to the rectangular, one-story 

brick structure are located on the east and west gable ends. Two trophée d’armes

emblems adorn the west façade, flanking the large double doors. The building is 

accessed on the west via a wide concrete ramp. The adjacent asphalt street to the 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

160 

south, Carder Road, meets the building’s foundation edge, leaving no room for a 

sidewalk or vegetation. 

Following Carder Road east along Building 140, a small parking lot is located 

behind the building (on the east side). A yew hedge lines the south boundary of 

the lot. At the northeast corner, a screen of eight shrubs has been planted in a U 

shape. Beside it to the northwest is a three-foot high, Coast Guard memorial 

plaque on a brick and granite base. To the west of the memorial is a condenser 

unit encircled by a chain link fence. One shrub stands near each back corner of 

Building 140. 

DOCK 102 

Dock 102 stands southeast of Building 140, at the intersection of Carder and 

Andes roads (Figures 8.3 and 8.4). Located on Buttermilk Channel, the .14 acre 

concrete dock is segregated from its asphalt parking lot by a chain link, gated 

fence. Five light poles line the dock– two on the north side and three on the 

south. Another light pole is located just outside the gate at the northeast corner 

of the parking lot. These modern light fixtures are square, flat and provide direct 

down-lighting to the surface below. A barge has been installed at Dock 102 to 

serve as a permanent dock for National Monument non-vehicular ferries. A 

newly constructed landside shelter that accommodates benches for seventy-five 

people is located in the asphalt parking area. It is a glass enclosed structure, 

vented at the top, with mounted panels for displaying interpretive information 

and island updates. This dock is owned and managed by the National Monument 

to provide ferry service to staff and visitors in the event that Soissons Dock is 

non-operational. 

BUILDING 107 

Building 107 is located northwest of Dock 102, uphill from the dock along Andes 

Road (Figures 8.5 and 8.6). The one-story brick building was constructed in the 

1850s as an Arsenal storehouse and today serves as the park headquarters. It 

shares design similarities with Building 140, including red brick, one-story 

construction with elements associated with the Romanesque Revival style. The 

rectangular brick building stretches north-south on a .44-acre site and is 

surrounded with a narrow grass lawn that hosts a few ornamental trees and 

shrubs. Two street lights are located in this green strip as well. These black metal, 

post-mounted light fixtures are cylindrical with four clear glass panels and a 

rounded, solid black cap. Unless otherwise noted, this is the lamp post style of 

most street lights on the National Monument property. 
EXISTING CONDITIONS

161 

Across Andes Road from Building 107, a three-foot tall privet hedge lines the 

south side of the road, next to a brick sidewalk with concrete bullnose curbing. 

An approximately evenly spaced line of mature horse chestnut and London plane 

trees is located on the lawn side of the hedge, part of the tree line that runs along 

the south and east side of Andes Road (Figure 8.7). A few of street tree specimens 

have been recently removed and not replaced. An approximately ten-foot gap in 

the privet hedge is located across the street from Building 107. 

FORT JAY 

Fort Jay is located on a direct east-west axis with Dock 102, up the hill along 

Andes Road (Figure 8.8). However, the topography of the area prevents a clear 

view of the fort from the dock until one reaches the top of the hill at the circular 

entry drive to Fort Jay (Figure 8.9). Remnants of the outer walls of the former 

barbican are preserved in the brick exterior retaining walls of the entry circle 

(Figure 8.10). Atop the retaining wall to the north, hydrangeas and trees – both 

evergreen and deciduous – sporadically encircle the asphalt drive. At the 

driveway’s center is a large, oval, raised bed of turf contained by its own eighteeninch-high brick wall; inside the oval at its midpoint stands a triangular formation 

of four large cannon balls on a concrete pad. On the north side of the drive’s 

entrance, there is a clear glass bus shelter and a newly planted disease-resistant 

American chestnut tree. On the south, a border of herbaceous perennials and a 

few rose bushes bloom in summer. 

On the southwest side of the circular drive, a set of wooden steps (two tiers of 

railroad ties) transitions the steep topography from the top of the retaining wall, 

down to the level of the entry drive. From here it is a short walk to the fort’s 

bridge across turf ground. Two evergreens flank the top of the stairs on either 

side. A deciduous tree stands to the northeast of the top tier of steps, and two 

deciduous trees stand to the southwest of the second tier of steps. 

A concrete bridge spans the dry moat and leads through the fort’s main gate 

tunnel into the courtyard (Figure 8.11). The bridge rests atop three brick piers 

and has a two-tier metal handrail on either side. On its north side, it has a single 

lamp post with a unique dual fixture at the top. Above the main gate on the 

outside of the fort is an elaborate sandstone trophée d’armes sculpture featuring 

symbols of the republic and equipment of war. 

The Fort Jay Courtyard 

A heavy wooden gate stands in the tunnel under one of the Fort Jay barracks, 

Building 202, leading to an interior quadrangle (Figure 8.12). The square 

courtyard is defined by four nearly identical, two-story, brick barracks that are 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

162 

visually dominated by two-story front porches and heavy columns associated 

with the Greek Revival style. 

Asphalt paths surround the exterior of the courtyard. Two additional asphalt 

paths divide the courtyard into four roughly equal quadrants. A scattering of 

trees are randomly spaced in the four quadrants, at roughly two or three trees per 

quadrant. Three of the trees are newly planted disease resistant American 

chestnuts. A few street lights, some functional, others not, are located throughout 

the interior courtyard. The northwest quadrant has been reduced in size by 

nearly a fourth, differing from the spatial characteristics as the other three 

quadrants. This missing sliver along the interior (east side) of the quadrant 

creates a twenty-one-foot-wide section of path instead of the nine- and ten-foot 

paths that otherwise comprise the interior cross-paths of the quadrangle. 

Tunnels extend from the courtyard under three of the four barracks (Building 

210, 214, and 202, but not Building 206). Sallyports are only located at the tunnels 

for Buildings 202 and 210 (Figure 8.13). Cobblestone alleys connect the courtyard 

to the terreplein level behind the barracks at the four corners of the space (Figure 

8.14). 

The Bastions 

The northeast bastion offers interesting evidence of the evolution of the fort. A 

cannon rests on one of the twelve gun mounts, while a clothes line post still 

stands near the center of the bastion (Figure 8.15). A pole with mounted loud 

speakers is located near the corner of the bastion. Two, single stall garages flank 

opposite sides of the cobblestone open space that connects to the alley. The 

bastion has one tree in its lower interior west corner and one hydrangea in its 

interior north corner, just beside the chain link gate that leads to the ravelin. 

The southeast bastion provides evidence of the fort’s changing historic uses. 

Thirteen gun mounts encircle the space, with a cannon occupying the second 

mount on the north. Three trees still grow here, including a honey locust and a 

crabapple tree. This bastion holds the most evidence of residential gardens with 

the remnants of perennial gardens encircling some part or all of eight gun mounts 

(Figure 8.16). Two single stall brick garages flank opposite sides of the 

cobblestone open space that connects with the alley. Just beyond the central gun 

mount on the top of the pointed scarp wall is a pole with loud speakers. 

Barbed wire brackets remain atop the scarp wall surrounding the eleven gun 

mounts on the southwest bastion. A maple tree, a juniper and an American elm 

are located in the space along with a stone barbeque grill at the west wall (Figure 

8.17). Two, one-story brick garages flank opposite sides of the cobblestone open 

space that connects to the alley. Because of the topography, one garage has steps 
EXISTING CONDITIONS

163 

adjacent to it on the north side, and the other has steps about six feet away to the 

northeast, leading down to the cobblestone landing. 

The northwest bastion has few landscape elements but includes a single maple 

tree and twelve empty gun mounts. It has a stretch of twelve-foot high chain link 

fence on its southwest corner, a circular concrete slab for a water tank on its 

northeast corner, a concrete transformer pad on its north side, and a pole with 

loud speakers toward the bastion’s tip to northwest. Two, one-story brick 

garages flank opposite sides of a cobblestone open space that connects with the 

alley. 

The Ravelin 

The ravelin of Fort Jay faces north and is separated from the rest of the fort with a 

six-foot chain link fence and gate. The fence is covered in vines on the west end, 

volunteer growth in the middle, and grape vines to the west. Building 215, a low, 

flat roofed, brick structure, stands inside in the ravelin adjacent to the fence. Two 

vent pipes are located west of the building. Six gun mounts remain in the ravelin; 

three on the east side have been replaced – two by concrete slabs and one by turf. 

Three cannons remain, one on the main gun mount pointing north, and the ones 

on either side of it pointing northeast and northwest (Figure 8.18). Four apple 

trees are planted intermittently among the three gun mounts on the west side. A 

concrete terrace is located in the center of the ravelin, just north of Building 215. 

It has four paths leading to the north, south, east and west, with a tall flagpole at 

its center (Figure 8.19). Two uplights are ground-mounted and illuminate the 

flags above. Barbed wire brackets remain atop the scarp wall on the west side. 

Four vent pipes and a honey locust tree are located outside the chain link fence, 

on the terreplein behind Building 215. 

THE OUTER FORTIFICATION ELEMENTS OF FORT JAY 

The exterior of Fort Jay is comprised of a series of masonry walls and grass 

spaces. The outer wall system creates concentric rings of identically shaped 

defensive walls around the main fort. Viewing the fort from the outside, the tall 

fortification walls on which the cannon are mounted are called scarp walls. These 

walls are offset approximately forty feet by another ring of masonry walls, called 

counterscarp walls (Figure 8.20). Between the two features is a dry moat that sits 

approximately fifteen feet below the grade of the Parade Ground. Four sets of 

masonry stairs are built into the counterscarp walls, providing access between the 

dry moat and the intermediate level of the outer walls (Figure 8.21). Two sets of 

wooden stairs are also located in the outer wall system to provide additional 

access between the multi-leveled landscape. The outer walls of the dry moat, or 

counterscarp walls, are ringed by an additional almost continuous masonry wall, 

approximately four feet tall, on top of which lies the Parade Ground. Between 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

164 

these two wall systems is an approximately eighteen-foot wide sloping grass 

plane. Both this area and the dry moat are maintained as mowed turf and are, 

with few exceptions, kept clear of woody growth. 

It is on the upper level of the outer wall system where the covered way, or covert 

defile, is located. The covert defile once connected Fort Jay to Castle Williams, 

providing a sub-grade passage to protect soldiers from enemy fire. Egress to the 

covert defile at Fort Jay was located at the northwest corner of the counterscarp 

wall. Evidence of the historic feature is marked by a break in the outer wall and 

brick retaining walls that extended into the covert defile (Figure 8.22). 

THE PARADE GROUND 

The Parade Ground of Governors Island is partially included in the National 

Monument boundary. Beginning at the Fort Jay entry circle, the portion included 

in the study area is bounded by Andes road on the north and east, the Library 

property to the west, Comfort Road to the southwest, a straight line cutting 

across the open Parade Ground to Evans Road on the south, and north to the 

Fort Jay entry circle along Nolan Park’s northwest brick walkway. 

The Parade Ground’s terrain slopes gently away from the fort but manipulation 

of its topography on a micro level has taken place. Golf course bunkers, elevated 

tee boxes, and flat greens remain scattered throughout the space (Figure 8.23). 

A cluster of vegetation comprised mostly of evergreen trees surrounds the 

southeast corner of the National Monument’s Parade Ground property, at the 

edge of Nolan Park’s Building 20. A few scattered deciduous trees and a clump of 

woody volunteer growth, likely left over from the golf course, are located along 

the southern counterscarp wall of Fort Jay. 

Only one formalized pedestrian path exists on the Parade Ground. The brick and 

flagstone path connects a set of stairs west of Fort Jay’s sallyport to the brick 

walkway running along the east side of the Library parcel (Figure 8.24). Two 

round concrete pads, flush with the grade, are located in the grass south of Fort 

Jay’s counterscarp walls, across from the southwest and southeast bastions. 

THE LIBRARY (BUILDING 251) 

The Library area of the National Monument site lies west of Fort Jay at a higher 

elevation than its neighboring Castle Williams. The Library is a single-story 

wood-frame building with a front entrance on the north side, a back entrance on 

the south, a side entrance on the west, and a bulkhead on the east. Because of the 

grade changes, all entrances have stairs. 
EXISTING CONDITIONS

165 

The east side of the Library is bounded by a brick and flagstone path lined with 

mature London plane trees on the east, dividing the area from the Parade Ground 

(Figure 8.25). A set of stairs is located near the path’s midpoint, made from 

flagstone treads and a concrete sidewall. This path connects Andes Road to the 

rear side of Colonels’ Row, along Comfort Road. An ivy-covered post-and-rail 

fence runs along the west side of the stairs atop a concrete retaining wall. The 

fence turns ninety-degrees to the west as it nears the southeast corner of the 

building. Also near this corner of the building are the bulkhead door and a 

concrete pad. A Siberian Elm stands near the southwestern corner of the Library 

lot. 

The front of the building faces north onto Andes Road (Figure 8.26). A flight of 

twelve concrete steps, with metal handrails on either side and along the middle, 

leads to the front door that is flanked by sheared yews and viburnum foundation 

plantings. To address the sloping front grade, a concrete retaining wall runs west 

from the front steps to the northwest corner of the property, rising in height as it 

travels away from the door. At the intersection of Tampa Road and Andes Road, 

the wall turns south on the west boundary of the Library. 

On the west side of the Library, the high retaining wall meets a staircase 

connecting the west side of the Library to the adjacent parking lot. The retaining 

wall continues along the length of the Library parcel along Tampa Road. Another 

set of six concrete steps accommodate additional grade change at the southern 

end of the space. 

A small open space sits south of the Library, measuring approximately 175 feet by 

37 feet, and is bounded on the west by Tampa Road (Figure 8.27). A maple tree 

and an electrical vault are located in the southwest quadrant of the turf rectangle. 

A rectangular parking lot, measuring seventy-five feet by ninety-two feet, is 

located west of the Library (Figure 8.28). Its three access points are on the west 

side along Hay Road. Three empty, raised concrete planters – two on the west 

side and one near the northwest corner – are located at the perimeter of the 

parking lot. Seven street lights – of the same style as seen throughout the National 

Monument site – are located in the parking lot. 

An additional small green space with sparse vegetation, including a few young 

specimen trees and shrubs, is located south of the parking lot. The grass area is 

encircled by a brick sidewalk. 

CASTLE WILLIAMS 

The area to the west of Hay Road, the parking lot, and the Library is composed of 

a series of spaces that for our purposes will be grouped and called the Castle 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

166 

Williams area. Castle Williams is the dominant feature of the area but three 

1970s-era, three-story brick barracks, known as Buildings 513A, B, and C, are 

located in the south shadow of the historic fort (Figure 8.29). The three modern 

buildings are oriented at right angles to one another to create two small courtyard 

spaces that are sparsely planted with evergreen specimen trees. However, the 

Building 513 courtyard spaces are largely characterized by mowed turf up to the 

building foundations. Several concrete walkways connect the various doors of 

the barracks to each other and to adjacent circulation systems. 

Castle Williams is abutted by mowed turf on its south and northeast sides (Figure 

8.30). Carder Road, the island’s perimeter thoroughfare, passes directly adjacent 

to the northwest and north sides of Castle Williams, leaving only a thin strip of 

grass, including a random patch of daylilies, between the street’s curbing and the 

masonry walls (Figure 8.31). Cobra-style street lights are used along Carder Road, 

differing from the smaller-scale historic lights located elsewhere in the National 

Monument (Figure 8.32). The fort’s main door faces east, looking down Andes 

Road (Figures 8.33 and 8.34). Movable interpretive signage stands at the asphaltsurfaced entryway. 

Continuing east down Andes Road from Castle Williams, the privet hedge and 

line of street trees on the south side of Andes Road begins east of the Library. 

This segment of trees is comprised predominantly of oaks until the area near 

Siossons Dock, where the tree line switches to a mixture of horse chestnut and 

London plane trees before terminating at the Fort Jay entry circle. The Andes 

Road tree line is a largely continuous feature of mixed-age trees. The Andes Road 

hedge also lines the road in a fairly continuous fashion, with the exception of an 

approximately 120-foot gap in the segment near Soissons Dock. 
167

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Figure 8.1. Building 140 and environs. The building falls within the boundary of the National Monument but the National Monument 

does not own the building. However, they do own a 1,000 square foot easement in the building. Visitors exit the ferry at Soissons Dock 

and receive orientation information at Building 140. The National Monument boundary is outlined in a dashed red line. Not to scale 

(OCLP, 2009).

Soissons Dock

140

Parking Area

Andes Road

Visitor 

Entrance

HVAC Equipment

Coast Guard Monument
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168

Figure 8.2. Building 140 is located adjacent to the main dock, Soissons Dock. Space within the building 

serves as a visitor contact station (OCLP, 2008).

Dock

102

Chain Link Fence

Street Lights

Andes Road

Carder Road

Barge

Parking Area

Figure 8.3. Dock 102 and environs. The dock is currently being modifi ed to function as a secondary NPS 

dock. The National Monument boundary is outlined in a dashed red line. Not to scale (OCLP, 2009).
169

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Figure 8.4. Dock 102, located east of Fort Jay, faces east toward Brooklyn. A barge, whose light, aluminum 

railing can be seen in the center of the image, is attached to the pier to serve as a ferry landing for the 

secondary National Monument dock (Governors Island National Monument image, 2010).

Entry Circle

Fort Jay

107

Entry 

Brick Courtyard

Sidewalk

Andes Road

Figure 8.5. Building107, the National Monument’s administration facility. The National Monument 

boundary is outlined in a dashed red line. Not to scale (OCLP, 2009).
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170

Figure 8.6. Above. Building 107 houses the 

National Monument’s administrative functions. The 

Parade Ground is just out of the image frame to the 

right (OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.7. Left. Andes Road tree and hedge line. 

Building 107 is out of image frame to the right and 

the Parade Ground can be seen to the left of the 

tree line (OCLP, 2008).
171

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Figure 8.8. The Fort Jay and Castle Williams areas of the National Monument. The National Monument boundary is outlined in a dashed 

red line. Not to scale (OCLP, 2009).

Cannon

Covered Defile 

Remnant

Entry Circle

Dry Moat

214

202

206

210

Flagstaff

Clothes Line

Post

251

513

Castle Williams

Hay Road

Tampa Road

Kimball Road

Fort Jay

Garages

Garages

Garages

Garages

Andes Road

Cannon

Cannon

Stone 

Barbeque

Empty Tree 

Planters

Parking 

Area

Electrical Vault

107

140

Siossons Dock

Comfort Road
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172

Figure 8.9. View from Dock 102, up Andes Road, to Fort Jay’s main gate. The topography obscures clear views between 

the features but Fort Jay can been seen through the trees in the background (OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.10. Circular entry drive at Fort Jay’s main gate. The outer walls retain the confi guration of the historic barbican 

feature, while the inner circle was reduced in size to allow for vehicular parking in the space. The fort’s main gate is out 

of the image frame to the left (OCLP, 2008).
173

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Figure 8.11. The Fort Jay main gate, bridge, and east sallyport (OCLP, 2008). 

Figure 8.12. The Fort Jay courtyard, as seen from the porch of one of the barracks. Four nearly identical buildings frame 

the central quadrangle (OCLP, 2008).
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174

Figure 8.13. The Fort Jay west sallyport, leading to 

the dry moat. A set of double masonry stairs is visible 

through the tunnel, leading up onto the fort’s outer 

walls and onto the Parade Ground (OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.14. Stone-paved alleys lead to the terreplein 

behind the barracks at each corner of the Fort Jay inner 

courtyard (OCLP, 2008).
175

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Figure 8.15. A clothes line support post remains 

behind the Fort Jay barracks as a reminder of the 

fort’s domestic use (OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.16. Domestic plantings, like these daylilies, 

surround some of the gun mounts on Fort Jay’s 

terreplein (OCLP, 2008).
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176

Figure 8.18. Cannon facing north in the Fort Jay ravelin. The framework of a temporary art installation can be seen in the 

background (OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.17. Stone barbeque built amidst the gun mounts on the terreplein of Fort Jay (OCLP, 2008).
177

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Figure 8.19. Left. The fl agstaff is located in the Fort Jay 

ravelin. Transformer boxes are one of the few features 

standing on the terreplein level (OCLP, 2008). 

Figure 8.20. Below. Fort Jay’s dry moat rests between the 

scarp walls (left) and counterscarp walls (center and right). 

The moat is maintained as mowed turf (OCLP, 2008).
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178

Figure 8.21. The west sallyport of Fort Jay, looking toward the stairs that lead to the covered defi le and Parade Ground 

(OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.22. Remains of the covered defi le exist at the northwest corner of Fort Jay’s outer walls. The feature once 

connected Fort Jay and Castle Williams but now meets existing grade a few yards northwest of Fort Jay (OCLP, 2008).
179

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Figure 8.23. Bunkers and berms from 

the golf course remain on the Parade 

Ground (OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.24. A fl agstone path crosses 

the Parade Ground, connecting the 

west sallyport of Fort Jay to Comfort 

Road (OCLP, 2008).
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180

Figure 8.25. London plane trees line the east side of the path 

that runs east of the Library, connecting Comfort and Andes 

Roads (OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.26. The main door of the Library faces north towards 

Andes Road (OCLP, 2008).
181

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Figure 8.27: A grassy rectangle of lawn sits south of the Library, separated by a concrete retaining wall. The concrete 

block structure at image left is an electrical vault (OCLP photograph, 2008).

Figure 8.28: A parking lot is located between Castle Williams (out of frame at image right) and the Library (out of frame 

at image left). Street lights similar to ones located throughout the National Monument are located in the parking lot 

along with three empty concrete tree planters. Colonels’ Row is pictured under the heavy tree canopy in the background 

(OCLP photograph, 2008).
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182

Figure 8.29. Buildings 513 A, B, and C are located just south of Castle Williams (out of frame at image right) (OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.30. Castle Williams and Building 513, looking north. The courtyards of 513 are mowed grass, as is the landscape 

surrounding Castle Williams (OCLP, 2008). 
183

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Figure 8.31. Above. Castle Williams and Carder 

Road, looking north towards Manhattan (OCLP, 

2008).

Figure 8.32. Left. Cobra-style street lights are 

located along Carder Road and Castle Williams’ 

north side (OCLP, 2008).
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184

Figure 8.34. Below. The east side of 

Castle Williams, looking north. The fort’s 

main gate faces image right (OCLP, 2008).

Figure 8.33. Left. Castle Williams’ main 

door that faces east down Andes Road 

(OCLP, 2008).
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

185 

ANALYSIS & EVALUATION 

This chapter provides an analysis of the Governors Island National Monument 

landscape and an evaluation of its historic character based on the findings of the 

site history and existing conditions components of this report. The evaluation is 

based on the criteria established by the National Register of Historic Places 

program and on the National Park Service’s Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: 

Content, Process, and Techniques. 

This chapter is organized into two sections. The first is a discussion of the site’s 

historical significance, which examines important historic themes and contexts 

associated with the landscape of Governors Island placed in the framework of 

the National Register criteria. This section also contains an evaluation of historic 

integrity. 

The second component of this chapter evaluates the characteristics and features 

of the Governors Island National Monument landscape to determine whether 

they contribute to the character of the cultural landscape. The determination of 

contributing status is reached by comparing historic conditions to existing 

conditions. Contributing features date to the period of significance and retain 

historic integrity, while those that do not contribute post-date the period of 

significance or are historic and have lost integrity to the point that their historic 

intent is no longer discernable. 

REVIEW OF EXISTING NATIONAL REGISTER 

DOCUMENTATION 

Castle Williams was individually listed on the National Register on July 31, 1972 

under Criterion A for its association with the military and under Criterion C for 

its architectural and engineering merits. The period of significance rests within 

the period 1800-1824, relating to the structure’s initial construction during the 

Second System of harbor defense. Fort Jay was individually listed shortly after, on 

March 27, 1974, under Criterion A for its association with the military. The 

nomination cites 1750-1824 as the structure’s period of significance, representing 

its initial construction during the First System of harbor defense and its 

subsequent redesign in the early 1800s during the Second System of harbor 

defense. 

The landmass north of Division Road, 121 acres encompassing all of the pre-1911 

acreage and a sliver of post-1911 land where Liggett Hall is located, was 

designated a National Historic Landmark District on February 4, 1985. The 

documentation cites the district’s significance under Criterion A, associated with 

the military, and Criterion C for Greek Revival Architecture. The documentation 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

186 

presents several periods of significance: 1794-Present (1985) for the association 

with military posts: 1794-1825 for New York Harbor fortifications: and 1933-

1943 for the time when the island served as the headquarters for the First U.S. 

Army. Although the wider period of significance is 1794-1985, the supporting text 

in the documentation implies an end date of 1966, the end of Army occupation.1

 

National Register documentation for the National Monument has not been 

prepared. It is recommended that this be forthcoming to better document the 

National Monument’s resources and to clarify the period of significance. 

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE 

Governors Island National Monument is nationally significant for its role as an 

influential and continuously occupied Army post between 1794 and 1966 and for 

its association with the development of a comprehensive system of New York 

Harbor defenses between 1794 and 1811. This report recommends adopting one 

continuous period of significance incorporating both themes, 1794-1966. 

NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERION A: 

Military: Army Habitation, 1794-1966 

The Army stationed troops on Governors Island on a full-time basis during the 

First System period, circa 1794, and continued to do so until 1966. Initially, the 

island served as a defensive post. Soldiers were garrisoned on the island to man 

the fortifications of Fort Jay, Castle Williams, and South Battery (outside the 

study area), which were constructed between 1794 and 1811. These three forts 

worked in conjunction with the defensive works of Fort Richmond and Fort 

Tompkins on the Staten Island side of the Narrows, Fort Hendricks on the Long 

Island side of the Narrows, Fort Wood on Beldoe’s Island (now Liberty Island), 

Fort Gibson on Ellis Island, and Castle Clinton at the tip of Manhattan to protect 

New York Harbor. Fort Jay was built during the First System as a modified star 

fort surrounded by acres of cleared, sloped land, or the glacis, to provide a 360 

degree range of fire. The largely earthen fortification was modified during the 

Second System and accompanied by the construction of South Battery and Castle 

Williams, all-masonry forts designed to defend Buttermilk Channel and the 

mouth of the Hudson River. 

As early as the 1830s, the Army built support structures on the formerly open 

glacis, indicating the decreased defensive necessity of some of the island’s 

acreage. By this time, military engineering had progressed to render the value of 

fortifications located so close to New York City questionable; advanced naval 

armament moved the threat from invading vessels much farther down the harbor 

from Governors Island. New forts were being constructed as part of the Third 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

187 

System of harbor defense, including Fort Schuyler on Throgs Neck Long Island, 

Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, and Fort Hancock in Sandy Hook New Jersey. 

Governors Island remained an active Army base despite these changes in regional 

military strategy. The island was designated a recruitment center from 1852-1878 

and briefly as the district command center of the Army’s northern operations. 

The island’s infrastructure increased through the mid-and late-1800 with the 

addition of structures relating to the independently administered New York 

Arsenal and support facilities for the Army garrison, including barracks inside 

Fort Jay, officers’ housing, a hospital, and a church. Additionally, Castle Williams 

continued to serve as a military prison, notably during the Civil War when the 

numbers of prisoners swelled. 

The Army restructured its command many times between the late-nineteenth 

century and the mid-twentieth century, yet, Governors Island remained a 

constant location for the upper echelon of the military establishment. From 1878 

to 1966 the island served, sequentially, as the command center of the Military 

Division of the Atlantic, the Department of the East, the Atlantic Division, the 

Eastern Division, the Eastern Department, and the First U.S. Army. 

The presence of such decorated commanders and their staff created the need for 

substantial facility development. Attractive districts of officers’ housing, such as 

Colonels’ Row and Nolan Park, developed in the late 1800s. Numerous Georgian 

revival buildings were constructed in the late 1920s and 1930s, including the 

enormous enlisted men’s barracks, Liggett Hall, more officers’ housing, nurses’ 

quarters, and a new post hospital. Recreational opportunities for officers, their 

families, and enlisted men abounded, including a polo field, golf course, tennis 

courts, and swimming pools. Street trees and brick sidewalks linked the areas of 

the island to create an attractive, village-like setting by the end of the 1930s. 

Governors Island also served as an important post during the World Wars of the 

twentieth century. During World War I, the Army utilized the island as a major 

supply and troop processing depot, building scores of temporary warehouses and 

support structures throughout the island. This differed from the island’s use 

during World War II, when Governors Island served mainly as the headquarters 

for several major command functions, including the Eastern Theater of 

Operations, the Second Service Command, the Exclusion Hearing Board, the 

Reclassification Board, and the Women’s Army Corps. 

After World War II, the First Army headquarters returned to Governors Island 

and remained there until a 1966 restructuring that relocated the command to 

Fort Meade, Maryland. 
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188 

NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERION C: 

Architecture and Engineering: New York Harbor Defense, 1794-1811 

Governors Island National Monument contains nationally significant resources 

that represent late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century American harbor 

fortifications. Military planners recognized the island’s strategic value, situated at 

the foot of Manhattan in the upper harbor, early in the European settlement 

period. As early as the American Revolution, Governors Island served as part of a 

system of rudimentary fortifications located throughout New York Harbor. Forts 

erected on Manhattan, Ellis, and Liberty Islands accompanied the earthen 

fortification on Governors Island in hopes of providing sweeping defensive 

coverage of the harbor. While the island's fortifications did not prove strong 

enough to repel the British, later improvements strengthened them and 

established Governors Island as a state-of-the-art military installation. 

The newly established American government initiated a program of fortification 

building in 1794 to address the defense of key ports. Not surprisingly, New York 

City was identified as an important recipient of the federal construction program, 

called the First American System of harbor defense. On Governors Island - the 

first New York site to be fortified during the First System - the early defensive 

works built by the Colonials and the British during the Revolutionary War were 

demolished and a new fort was rebuilt in the same location. The fort was named 

Fort Jay in honor of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, John Jay.2

 Fort Jay was 

typical of First System forts in its design and construction, being designed by 

French military engineers and built largely out of earth due to inadequate funding 

for more permanent materials. French engineer Charles Vincent designed a fourbastioned structure with several support buildings inside, including a shot 

furnace and powder magazine. Depressed walkways radiated from the central 

fort to smaller batteries around the water’s edge. 

Congress established an additional fortification building program in the years 

leading up to the War of 1812, known as the Second System, to incorporate the 

latest advances in military engineering and to create a more comprehensive 

system of defenses along the eastern seaboard. One of the most influential 

engineers of the Second System was Major Jonathan Williams. Between 1807 and 

1812 Williams designed and adapted numerous forts around New York harbor 

into a comprehensive system of defensive coverage. He incorporated older First 

System forts with newly constructed forts in the upper and lower harbor to 

account for advances in naval armament. Williams designed forts on Staten 

Island, Long Island, Bedloes Island, Ellis Island, Manhattan, and Governors 

Island.3

 
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189 

At Governors Island, Williams rebuilt Fort Jay in 1806 with masonry materials 

and added a north-facing ravelin. Earth removed from the older walls was likely 

incorporated into the sloped glacis surrounding the fort that was designed to 

deflect incoming artillery away from the structure. Additionally, Williams 

constructed a state-of-the-art circular, three-tiered, casemated fort on the 

northwest promontory of Governors Island, which came to bear his name. This 

all-masonry fort represented a major advancement in fortification design with the 

stacking of several levels of armament inside a protected space. The formidable 

structure presided over the upper harbor with clear lines of fire to the north, 

west, and southwest. Fort Jay and Castle Williams were physically linked by a 

covered defile, along a route that connected a break in the northwest corner of 

Fort Jay’s outer walls and Castle Williams’ main gate. It was during this period 

when documentation about the glacis, or sloped area surrounding Fort Jay and 

extending to Castle Williams, was recorded. Engineers described sodding the 

glacis, describing the open nature of the feature that provided a comprehensive 

and unobstructed field of fire. 

By 1811, the redesign and construction of Fort Jay and Castle Williams were 

complete. Although later alteration to the structure and use of both forts 

occurred, notably the construction of barracks within Fort Jay and the 

modification of Castle Williams into a military prison, the existing significant 

elements of the forts established during the Second System remain to this day to 

serve as defining examples of American military engineering. Their current 

condition is notable for its high degree of historic integrity, as documented by the 

National Historic Landmark nomination, which states that “they are among the 

country’s best preserved fortifications from an important and innovative period 

of American military construction.”4

 

EVALUATION OF LANDSCAPE INTEGRITY 

Integrity is the ability of a property to convey its historic identity. At Governors 

Island, this means the extent to which the landscape conveys conditions present 

between 1794 and 1966. The evaluation of integrity is based on an understanding 

of the physical resources and how they relate to the property’s significance. The 

National Register program identifies seven aspects of integrity: location, design, 

setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Not all aspects must be 

present for the site to have integrity, although several must exist to convey the 

significance of the property. 

This section only evaluates the overall integrity of the landscape in the 22.78-acre 

National Monument boundary, not those of the National Historic Landmark 

District or larger island. However, this section does take into consideration 

certain historic characteristics and features that extend beyond the National 
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190 

Monument boundary. For example, the National Monument boundary divides 

the Parade Ground into two arbitrary segments without consideration for the 

historic or existing limits of the feature. In order to assess integrity, the feature is 

examined in its entirety. Other landscape elements included in this integrity 

evaluation that extend beyond the National Monument boundary are views from 

the project area to other areas of the island and the setting created by the 

collection of features that spill over legal boundaries, like tree canopy coverage 

and the impact of adjacent buildings. 

LOCATION 

Location is defined as the place where the historic property was constructed, or 

the historic place occurred. Governors Island is the site of Fort Jay and Castle 

Williams and the location of a major Army administrative headquarters from 

1794-1966. Its location in New York Harbor remains unchanged. Governors 

Island National Monument retains integrity of location. 

DESIGN 

Design refers to the qualities of the place, including form, space, structure, and 

style, that help define the cultural landscape. The overall design of the Governors 

Island National Monument landscape changed significantly over the period of 

significance. In the early years, the island was dominated by the structures of Fort 

Jay and Castle Williams with other landscape elements kept to a minimum as to 

not interfere with views and fields of fire. Fort Jay, a modified star fort 

surrounded by a dry moat was located in the center of the island at its highest 

point to provide an elevation advantage for its guns. Engineer Jonathan Williams 

located the round, casemated Castle Williams on a spit of land projecting into the 

harbor at the island’s northwest tip to command control over the western 

approach to the upper harbor. The two were connected via a depressed walkway, 

known as a covered defile, between Fort Jay’s northwest counterscarp wall and 

the east-facing main gate of Castle Williams. 

As the nineteenth century progressed, the strategic importance of the forts 

diminished and other administrative functions gained importance, fostering a 

change in the design of the landscape. Army planners built barracks inside of Fort 

Jay, altering the interior space and reinforcing the rectilinear shape of the 

quadrangle. Structures were built along the perimeter of the once-open glacis and 

to the south and east of Fort Jay. This shift to creating permanent housing, 

supply, and administrative space continued into the twentieth century with the 

addition of turn-of-the-century Library building between the forts and barracks 

buildings south of Castle Williams as late as the 1970s. 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

191 

Most of the design elements at Governors Island National Monument, including 

circulation patterns, architectural styles, and plantings, reflect changes made 

during the period of significance, so the site retains integrity of design. 

SETTING 

Setting is the physical environment of a property and the general character of the 

place. The setting of Governors Island and the National Monument within it has 

changed markedly over the long period of significance due to rapid development 

of the larger island and the New York City metro area. In 1794, views to Brooklyn 

and New Jersey revealed much more of the native environment than was visible 

by 1966. Likewise, there were few dominant features on the island besides Castle 

Williams and Fort Jay at the turn-of-the nineteenth century. The Army changed 

the landscape by adding buildings, roads, and street trees to the once open 

landscape beginning in the early 1800s, resulting in a heavily developed campuslike setting by the end of the period of significance. 

Another significant alteration of the island’s setting occurred in the early 1900s 

when the large amounts of fill were added to the shallow shoals south of the 

island, which more than doubled the original landmass. This led the way for an 

expanded building campaign that added post-World War II architecture and 

infrastructure to the south side of the island. 

By the end of the period of significance, the landscape contained in the present 

day National Monument boundary contained several acres of the historic Parade 

Ground, Fort Jay and Castle Williams, and many features designed and built by 

the Army to serve the needs of a permanent military population. The area was 

visually tied to the character of the larger island through its mature street trees, 

historic architecture and defensive works, and the seamless connection of the 

Parade Ground golf course. Conditions today closely reflect those of 1966 and 

consequently, the property retains integrity of setting. 

MATERIALS 

Materials are the physical elements that give form to the property in a particular 

pattern or configuration. Many historic materials survive at the National 

Monument, including the stonework of Fort Jay and Castle Williams, brick 

sidewalks, and street trees that represent the earlier period of significance, as well 

as materials that date to later in the period of significance like the asphalt road 

surface of the Fort Jay inner courtyard and the brick planter in the center of the 

Fort Jay entry circle. The National Monument retains integrity of materials. 

WORKMANSHIP 

Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts and methods of construction 

used during the period of significance. Historic workmanship is evident at the 
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192 

National Monument due to the excellent condition of the fortifications. Fort 

Jay’s masonry scarp and counterscarp walls exist nearly as they did after their 

final modification during the Second System. Although the glacis, or Parade 

Ground, has been modified from its condition during the island’s active defense 

period, the changes made relating to the development of the golf course date to 

the period of significance. Evidence of historic workmanship can also be seen in 

the Castle Williams architecture. Brick retaining walls, brick walkways, stone 

walkways, and concrete stairs throughout the National Monument have been 

altered little since the end of the period of significance. The National 

Monument’s landscape retains integrity of workmanship. 

FEELING 

Feeling is the expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of 

time resulting from the presence of physical features that, when taken together, 

convey a property’s historic character. The dominant features of Fort Jay and 

Castle Williams evoke the period in which they were constructed and convey the 

important technological and engineering advances of the Second System. To a 

lesser extent, the domestic history of the island is evident. Golf course remnants 

are still visible on the Parade Ground to show the transformation of a defensive 

feature into a recreational one, but some features, like the playground equipment 

inside the Fort Jay courtyard have been removed, to obscure the feeling that the 

space was once populated by military families. Overall, the integrity of feeling 

remains and evokes the character of a former military base due to the 

institutional appearance of the buildings and the scale of the site’s dominant 

features, Fort Jay, the Parade Ground, and Castle Williams. 

ASSOCIATION 

Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person and a 

historic property. Governors Island National Monument’s historic association 

with the Army no longer remains, but the extant physical features continue to 

reflect that relationship. The National Monument remains associated with the 

Second System of harbor defense and the Army administrative headquarters 

period through the remaining architecture, cannons at Fort Jay and Castle 

Williams, golf course remnants, circulation systems, and topographic landforms. 

Although the National Monument is now associated with public and recreational 

uses, the visible reminders of its historic association with the military is intact to 

convey integrity of association. 

SUMMARY EVALUATION OF INTEGRITY 

Governors Island retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, 

workmanship, association, and feeling to strongly reflect the historic military and 

engineering themes during the period of significance. 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

193 

EVALUATION OF LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS AND 

FEATURES 

The following section evaluates the historic character of the Governors Island 

National Monument landscape by analyzing large-scale patterns in the landscape, 

known as landscape characteristics, and associated individual site features. 

Historic conditions have been compared to existing conditions to evaluate 

whether features are contributing or non-contributing to the character of the 

cultural landscape. This evaluation section has been structured using eight 

landscape characteristics: spatial organization, land use, circulation, vegetation, 

buildings and structures, small scale features, views and vistas, and archeological 

features. 

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION 

In the early nineteenth century, few features besides the defensive fortifications 

of Fort Jay and Castle Williams existed on Governors Island in order to provide 

clear sight lines and fields of fire. These key features dominated the landscape 

and dictated the spatial patterning of the larger island. Later, as the purpose of 

the island shifted to encompass more administrative activities, residential 

buildings, an armory, and a church encroached on the formerly open expanse 

surrounding Fort Jay. Other alterations included the addition of service-oriented 

buildings around the landscape of Castle Williams. Subsequent improvements 

included clusters of similarly-styled residences in park-like settings, the 

construction of large, institutional buildings, and the addition of approximately 

100 acres on the south side of the original land mass. 

These nineteenth and twentieth-century changes radically altered the spatial 

organization created during the Second System. The visual connection between 

Fort Jay and Castle Williams was lost and the primacy of the forts and their 

associated landforms was reduced. 

Today, Governors Island National Monument is created by an artificial boundary 

drawn to include Fort Jay and Castle Williams. Within the National Monument, 

Fort Jay, the Parade Ground, and Castle Williams are dominant features. 

Structures within the National Historic Landmark District surround the National 

Monument, framing the open space of the Parade Ground. The post-historic 

Coast Guard-era buildings of 513 A-C have altered the landscape on the south 

side of Castle Williams but overwhelmingly, the spatial organization of the 

National Monument landscape reflects conditions at the end of the period of 

significance. 
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194 

Fort Jay Courtyard 

Historic Condition: The Fort Jay courtyard was created by the construction of the 

barracks buildings in the 1830s. The four rectangular buildings mirrored the 

four-bastioned shape of the fort’s scarp walls and reinforced the strict geometry 

of the space. Evidence of improvements to the interior of the fort can be seen by 

the 1860s. Photographs from the Civil War show a perimeter road and two cross 

streets bisecting the courtyard into four equal sized quadrants. This four square 

pattern persisted through the end of the period of significance. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: No documented changes occurred to the 

Fort Jay courtyard after the period of significance. The space currently reflects 

historic conditions in its geometric organization. The barracks create a square 

frame for the courtyard which is divided into four almost equally sized quadrants. 

A slight modification to the width of the cross road in the northwest quadrant 

made late in the period of significance resulted in a slightly smaller green space in 

that corner of the courtyard. Shade trees of varied species and ages are dispersed 

throughout the courtyard, softening the strict rectilinear quality of the space. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Fort Jay Moat 

Historic Condition: The Fort Jay moat dates to the modification of the fort during 

the Second System, circa 1811. The spatial qualities of the moat are distinctive, 

owing to the high scarp walls of the main fort and the stepped counterscarp walls 

on the exterior. The Army maintained the area as cut grass, keeping it free from 

visual obstructions. The moat extended all the way around the fort but sight lines 

were kept to a minimum because of the many acute angles of the scarp walls. 

During the 1920s, portions of the moat were used as part of the Governors Island 

golf course, but it is unknown how long this practice continued or what impact it 

had on the resource. Additionally, the Army took advantage of the enclosed 

space for target practice. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: No documented changes occurred to the 

Fort Jay moat after the period of significance. The moat is approximately forty 

feet wide, flat, and covered in turf grass. The absence of site features inside the 

moat and the tall side walls give it a stark and unique visual appearance that 

emphasizes both vertical and horizontal planes. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Parade Ground 

Historic Condition: The Parade Ground evolved from a key defensive feature of 

the early fortification period, the glacis. Even the earliest renditions of Fort Jay 

incorporated a wide open expanse of land surrounding the fortification walls, 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

195 

sloped at an angle to deflect incoming artillery. After Fort Jay and Castle Williams 

were redesigned during the Second System, the glacis was formally designed, 

graded, and covered in turf grasses. It stretched from all sides of Fort Jay, 

providing direct views to Castle Williams and the harbor. By the mid-1800s, the 

strategic importance of the Governors Island fortification had been eclipsed by 

newer forts in the outer harbor and the Army began building structures on the 

perimeter of the glacis. It is likely during this time that the name changed from 

glacis to Parade Ground to reflect new uses of the space; it served as a prime 

location for military drilling and parading. New buildings continued to infringe 

on the space into the twentieth century but a core area of open space immediately 

adjacent to Fort Jay and extending southeast of the fort remained. This may be 

due to the fact that the Army used the acreage for recreational activities including 

a polo field and a golf course. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: A few documented changes occurred to the 

Parade Ground after the period of significance. The Coast Guard manipulated 

the topography and planted several clusters of trees to enhance the golf course. 

Today, the National Monument contains the portion of the Parade Ground 

surrounding Fort Jay and extending towards Castle Williams. The balance of the 

open space is owned and managed by the other on-site property manager, the 

Trust for Governors Island. The Parade Ground is still a distinctive spatial area of 

the National Monument due to the contrast between its open expanse and the 

density of development on its perimeter. The NPS maintains the surface as 

regularly mowed turf grass. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

LAND USE 

Historic Condition: In 1637, the Native Americans of the Manhattan area sold 

Governors Island that they used primarily as a seasonal fishing camp to the Dutch 

governor for his private use. The land was only in private ownership for a short 

period before becoming property of the state. Dutch and, later, British governors 

and their families used the island as an informal country retreat. 

The Dutch and the British did not capitalize on the island’s strategic value until 

the mid-1700s when the British were in the midst of a decade-long struggle with 

the French. The British military used the island as an encampment in 1755. 

However, it was not until 1776 that the island served as a fortified site. American 

soldiers erected rudimentary defensive works at the onset of the Revolutionary 

War, beginning the island’s almost uninterrupted history as an American military 

base. 

By the late 1800s, use of the island shifted from an active defensive fortification to 

an administrative center. When the Army administration split into three divisions 
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196 

in 1878, the island became the headquarters for the Atlantic Division’s east unit. 

Many physical changes accompanied the land shift, including the construction of 

new buildings, recreational facilities, and the addition of approximately 100 acres 

of new land on the south side of the island. Military administrative activities 

continued through the period of significance and until 1996 when the Coast 

Guard vacated the island. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: Today, Governors Island National 

Monument is a unit of the National Park Service and is open to the public on a 

limited basis. The island’s historic uses no longer continue but the physical 

features remain to illustrate previous land uses. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

CIRCULATION 

Circulation patterns on Governors Island evolved over the period of significance, 

changing with shifts in land use. In the early 1800s, few roads or pedestrian paths 

were formalized due to the limited resources on site. Early circulation routes 

were limited to connecting the forts to each other and the main wharf. Later as 

structures began to line the northeastern shore and encroached on the Parade 

Ground, the number of circulation routes increased to connect the new 

structures. By the end of the period of significance, the military’s long standing 

use of the island as an administrative center necessitated the creation of an 

extensive hierarchy of vehicular and pedestrian routes to connect the island’s 

resources. 

Today, Governors Island National Monument contains vehicular roads and 

pedestrian paths with varied surfaces. Some, like Andes Road and Comfort Road 

travel through the National Monument boundary, while connecting areas in the 

larger island landscape. Others are self-contained sidewalks located within the 

National Monument boundary. 

Hay Road 

Historic Condition: Hay Road likely dates to approximately 1812 when South 

Battery and Castle Williams were constructed. A faint, informal path can be seen 

on an 1813 map of the island, running along the south shoreline of the island 

connecting the two batteries. Structures were added to the south shore of the 

island in the late 1800s and early 1900s, notably the residences of Colonels’ Row, 

which were serviced by the formalized Hay Road. The approximate path of the 

road also marked the extents of the original land mass after the expansion of 

1911. The configuration of the southwest side of Hay Road was altered after 

World War I and was pulled further south west from the front doors of the 

Colonels’ Row residences to create a larger front lawn area for the residences. 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

197 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: No documented changes occurred to Hay 

Road after the period of significance. Structures were added and removed from 

the landscape near Castle Williams in the twentieth century but the configuration 

of Hay Road remained in its historic location. Today, Hay Road, as it nears 

Buildings 513 A, B, and C and Castle Williams, is included in the National 

Monument Boundary. It is surfaced in asphalt with an adjacent concrete sidewalk 

that. In the National Monument boundary, the road widens from its typical twolane width to accommodate parking near Buildings 513 A, B, and C. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Kimball Road 

Historic Condition: Kimball Road was built circa 1940 to provide vehicular access 

between the the old hospital, located southeast of Castle Williams on Hay Road, 

and Liggett Hall, enclosing the triangular green at Colonels’ Row. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: No documented changes occurred to 

Kimball Road after the period of significance despite the fact that both the old 

hospital and the building to the south were removed circa 1970. The old hospital 

was replaced by Parking Area 504 and the lot to its south was converted to a lawn 

area. Kimball Road is currently a short, infrequently used, two-lane vehicular 

road. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Tampa Road 

Historic Condition: Tampa Road was constructed between 1928 and1937 along 

the north side of the library. It took the place of a pedestrian path that ran 

between the library and the old hospital, connecting Andes Road to Comfort 

Road. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: No documented changes occurred to Tampa 

Road after the period of significance despite the fact that both the old hospital 

and the building to the south were removed circa 1970. It is a short road segment, 

two-lanes in width. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Walkway between Fort Jay and Comfort Road 

Historic Condition: Pedestrian access from the west sallyport of Fort Jay was 

created during the modification of the fort during the Second System. A set of 

masonry stairs was built into the counterscarp wall on the west side of the fort 

and led across the glacis to Castle Williams, south of the covered defile. This path 

remained in use throughout the period of significance with several modifications. 
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198 

By the turn-of-the-century, structures had been added to the space between Fort 

Jay and Castle Williams, blocking direct access, and the new residences of 

Colonels’ Row stood west of Fort Jay, along the west shore of the island. The 

walkway from the west sallyport was modified along its west side and split into 

three different paths leading to Colonels’ Row and two points along Comfort 

Road. During World War I, the Army built temporary buildings on the Parade 

Ground west of Fort Jay and the path was modified again into to hug the south 

sides of these new buildings. Upon their removal in the 1920s, the path took on 

the configuration we see today. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: No documented changes occurred to the 

path between Fort Jay and Comfort Road after the period of significance. It 

currently is a narrow, flagstone pedestrian path that departs Fort Jay at the west 

sallyport, travels up a double set of stairs that traverse the grade change from the 

dry moat to the Parade Ground, travels through a short segment with brick 

retaining walls, crosses the Parade Ground west of the fort, goes down a short 

flight of masonry stairs and meets Comfort Road at the northern extent of 

Colonels’ Row. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Walkway and staircase southwest of the Library 

Historic Condition: The walkway and staircase southwest of the Library was built 

between 1928 and 1937 with the construction of Tampa Road. Prior to these 

improvements, the north side of the Library was a grassy slope leading down to 

the level of the first floor of the old hospital. When the Army replaced the 

pedestrian path between the buildings with Tampa Road, they cut the earth north 

of the Library and built a retaining wall. The stairs became necessary to traverse 

the grade change between the Library and Tampa Road below. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: No documented changes occurred to the 

walkway and staircase southwest of the Library after the period of significance. It 

is currently a concrete sidewalk that departs from the north door of the Library, 

traveling down two flights of stairs to meet the sidewalk along the south side of 

Tampa Road. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Fort Jay courtyard roads 

Historic Condition: The Fort Jay courtyard was created in the 1830s when the 

Army built the Fort Jay barracks buildings. The four, nearly identical rectangular 

buildings created a central quadrangle space. It is not known if formal roads and 

paths were established immediately after the construction of the buildings, but as 

seen in photographic documentation, a perimeter road and two cross paths 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

199 

encircled and divided the courtyard into four quadrants by the Civil War. Four 

short road segments led from the corners of the courtyard, between the 

buildings, to the terreplein level behind the barracks. The courtyard roads began 

as packed earth but were later paved with asphalt and curbing was added. The 

edge treatment between the road and the interior grass spaces varied during the 

period of significance from a low, white painted, rail fence, to equally spaced 

cannon balls set into the ground, to simple curbing and grass. The basic road 

configuration persisted through the period of significance with one slight 

modification. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The cross path that separated the northern 

quadrants of the courtyard was widened circa 1976, reducing the size of the 

northwest quadrant lawn. As was the case historically, the courtyard is ringed 

with a perimeter asphalt road and two short road segments bisect the center 

space to create four quadrants. The grass quadrants are equal in size with the 

exception of the one in the northwest that is slightly smaller due to a wider road 

segment. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Fort Jay entry circle 

Historic Condition: After Fort Jay was redesigned under the Second System, the 

main gate was built facing east, facing the wharf. To prevent a clear line of fire 

between the wharf and the main gate, the Army built a sloped mound of earth in 

front of the main gate called a barbican. A path circled around the barbican to 

provide access to the fort. This defensive feature remained in place until circa 

1955 when the barbican was replaced with a smaller, low, circular planter and the 

outer paths were widened to allow for vehicular parking. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: No documented changes occurred to the 

Fort Jay entry circle after the period of significance. The space is roughly circular 

in shape with brick retaining wall sides that become taller as they approach Fort 

Jay. A low, brick, circular planter sits in the center of the space. It is surfaced in 

mowed grass and has four stacked cannon balls in the middle. Vehicular parking 

is no longer allowed in the space. Movable signage indicates that guided tours of 

Fort Jay begin in the entry circle. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Covered defile 

Historic Condition: The covered defile connecting Fort Jay to Castle Williams was 

a key defensive feature designed during the Second System. It was a depressed 

walkway with mounded sides that provided cover for people passing between 

Castle Williams’ main gate and the northern corner of Fort Jay’s counterscarp 
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200 

wall. The path traveled in a straight line across the glacis between the forts. The 

covered defile remained in use as a pedestrian route until approximately 1900 

when the Army built a structure southeast of the Fort Williams gate, over top of 

the feature. The placement of this building eliminated the once essential direct 

visual and physical connection between the forts. Additional buildings were 

added to the landscape between the forts during World War I and the covered 

defile was disturbed again. Modification of the feature continued after the wartime buildings were removed, when the Army manipulated the surface of the 

Parade Ground to create a golf course. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard continued to modify the 

golf course in the years after 1966, which left very little visual evidence of the 

covered defile. Currently, remnants of the feature can be seen at Fort Jay. A break 

in the northwest corner of the counterscarp wall and a corresponding depression 

of earth extending into the Parade Ground are all that remain of the historic 

feature above ground. The brick counterscarp walls curve into the path remnant 

as retaining walls for a few yards before disappearing into the lawn of the Parade 

Ground. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

Walkways in Complex 513 

Historic Condition: Not present. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard constructed three 

connected three-story brick barracks south of Castle Williams in the 1970s where 

World War II temporary buildings previously stood. Concrete sidewalks ran 

through the complex, connecting the doors of the buildings to each other, Hay 

Road, Carder Road, and to Castle Williams. The sidewalks exist in good 

condition today. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing 

VEGETATION 

Historically, Governors Island was a forested landscape with a natural sand and 

rock beach. European reports from the mid-1600s describe the island’s large 

population of nut trees, illustrating the likelihood that the Manhattan Native 

Americans did not significantly exploit the forests for timber. This changed under 

Dutch control, as records show the establishment of a mill on the island. The 

deforestation continued at a rapid rate under English and Colonial control 

during the American Revolution. Governors Island was used as a key defensive 

site in the battle of Long Island and many trees were cleared for fire wood and to 

provide clear lines of sight from the fortifications. This defensive role continued 

into the mid-1800s when shifts in military technology made the fortifications of 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

201 

Governors Island less essential to the defense of New York and the Army began 

using the space for administrative functions. New supply, residential, and office 

structures accompanied this shift and trees were planted around the island to 

provide shade and enhance the visual appearance of the new resources. 

Today, several distinct vegetative features exist on the island. One is the turf grass 

of the Parade Ground, one of the National Monument’s key spatial features. 

Approximately twenty-acres surrounding Fort Jay are largely cleared of trees and 

covered in mowed turf. Many street trees exist throughout the island, some 

inside the National Monument boundary, most notably along Andes Road and 

the east side of the Library. These include mixed age specimens of London Plane 

trees, oaks, and horse chestnuts. Additionally, the Fort Jay courtyard, terreplein 

level, and main gate entry circle host a scattering of mixed-species shade trees. 

Fort Jay courtyard perimeter trees 

Historic Condition: The Fort Jay courtyard was defined by the construction of the 

barracks buildings in the 1830s. It is probable that trees were planted inside the 

courtyard shortly after, due to photographic evidence that depicts mid-sized 

trees by the 1860s. In 1864, deciduous trees lined the perimeter of the interior 

quadrants. The same pattern is shown at the end of the nineteenth century, 

although most of the trees are small replacements of the originals, resulting in a 

mixed-age, and mixed deciduous-species grouping. In the twentieth century, the 

geometric planting of trees became less rigidly formal due to the failure to replace 

dead specimens. The remaining trees matured into large shade trees. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: After the period of significance, several new 

trees were planted in the courtyard. In a departure from historic practice, at least 

one conifer and a few deciduous specimens were planted in the interior of the 

quadrants. The park recently added three Japanese-American chestnut hybrids to 

the perimeter of the quadrants and removed the deteriorated mature conifer. 

Today, a handful of mature deciduous trees remain in the courtyard along with 

the newly planted trees to create a sparse mixed-age planting of trees. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing. While some pre-1966 specimens exist in the 

grouping, the integrity of the Fort Jay courtyard perimeter trees is diminished to 

the point that they no longer reflect the long-standing tradition of having shade 

trees along the perimeter of Fort Jay’s quadrants. 

Trees on Fort Jay terreplein 

Historic Condition: Up until the end of the period of significance, the Army 

maintained the terreplein level of Fort Jay as mowed grass with no woody 

vegetation present. By the early 1960s, the maintenance practices had been 

relaxed and a few small trees began to grow along the terreplein level. By the end 
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202 

of the period of significance several of the trees had matured into mid-sized 

specimens. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: More vegetation was allowed to grow on the 

terreplein after 1966. Several trees, including a line of apple trees in the north 

ravelin, a honey locust in the southeast bastion, and a few volunteer sumac trees 

and Norway maples, matured and still exist today. 

Evaluation: Contributing. Although the existing trees on the terreplein of Fort Jay 

is not characteristic of conditions present during the majority of the period of 

significance, many of the specimens pre-date 1966 and should be considered 

contributing. However, the existence and management of said vegetation should 

be open to discussion after a determination of a treatment date is made. 

Domestic plantings on Fort Jay terreplein 

Historic Condition: Unknown. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: Some residents of the Fort Jay barracks 

planted small ornamental gardens on the terreplein level near their units. It is not 

known whether the small, informal domestic gardens pre-dated or post-dated 

the transfer of the island from the Army to the Coast Guard. Currently a few iris 

and day lilies remain in the gun mounts on the southeast bastion. 

Evaluation: Undetermined. 

Shade trees at Fort Jay entry circle 

Historic Condition: Photographic evidence shows that earlier in the period of 

significance, no shade trees surrounded the Fort Jay barbican at its main gate. 

The presence of trees around the perimeter of the space appear in photographs 

from the 1930s. The trees remained after the redesign of the feature in the 1950s 

that modified the interior of the barbican to accommodate vehicular parking. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: Approximately eight shade trees, mostly 

London plane trees and some maples, ring the perimeter of the Fort Jay entry 

circle. Several at the east side of the circle have been removed in recent years, 

leaving the balance of trees clustered nearer to Fort Jay and flanking the bridge 

and dry moat. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Shrubs, annuals, and perennials at Fort Jay entry circle 

Historic Condition: There is no evidence that ornamental plantings stood at the 

Fort Jay entry circle during the period of significance. 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

203 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: Several hydrangeas, rose bushes, and annual 

and perennial flower beds are located around the entry circle, notably at the east 

side, or opening to Andes Road. These elements are post-1966 introductions. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing. 

Parade Ground turf 

Historic Condition: Documentary evidence shows that the glacis, later known as 

the Parade Ground, was seeded with turf grass as early as 1808. The Army 

managed the open expanse to provide clear views in all directions. They 

controlled the growth of woody vegetation and regularly mowed the turf to make 

use of the space for drilling and dress parades. The size and configuration of the 

Parade Ground changed in the mid and late-nineteenth century when the island’s 

land use shifted from defensive to administrative, but the remaining Parade 

Ground continued to be surfaced in cut lawn. Beginning in the 1920s, the Army 

built and maintained a golf course on the Parade Ground and made changes to 

the feature to accommodate tee boxes, putting greens, and bunkers. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard continued to use the 

Parade Ground as a golf course after 1966 and made slight modifications, but the 

majority of the space remained as cut grass. The Parade Ground turf is a 

character-defining feature that helps accentuate the open appearance of the 

formerly defensive landscape. Areas of the turf have been manipulated to serve as 

bunkers and sand traps. A population of Canada geese often gathers on the turf 

east of the Library. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

London Plane tree line east of Library 

Historic Condition: The Library and its east walkway date to approximately 1900 

but the line of London Plane trees between the Parade Ground and the walkway 

was not planted until circa 1940. Prior to this, the area east of the Library was in 

flux, when it was used for temporary World War I buildings and golf course 

holes. In the build-up to World War II, an additional structure was built south of 

the Library and the tree line was planted to separate the buildings from the golf 

course. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: No documented changes occurred to the 

tree line after 1966. Currently, nine mature London Plane trees with interlocking 

canopies remain in the tree line. One of the trees near Comfort Road is no longer 

extant. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 
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Buildings 513 A, B, and C vegetation 

Historic Condition: Buildings 513 A, B, and C post-date the period of significance. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard constructed Buildings 513 

A, B, and C south of Castle Williams in the 1970s to serve as family housing. 

Several trees were added to the courtyard between the buildings after 

construction. Today, the courtyard facing Hay Road hosts several large evergreen 

trees. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing. 

Andes Road street trees 

Historic Condition: Photographic evidence shows that the Andes Road street trees 

date to approximately 1910. It is possible that they were added during a larger 

streetscape improvement effort in which sidewalks, curbing, and paving were 

added to Andes Road. In a tree survey from the early 1960s, the feature was 

shown to contain clusters of maples, horse chestnuts, and London Plane trees. 

Significant gaps in the tree line had opened by the end of the period of 

significance and individual specimens were replaced, notably toward the west 

end of Andes Road. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Andes Road tree line remained in place 

after the period of significance. Individual trees have been replaced since the 

historic period. Today, the tree line consists of mostly oaks west of Soissons 

Dock and a mixture of London Plane trees and horse chestnuts east of Soissons 

Dock. Some of the London Plane and horse chestnuts at the east end of Andes 

Road are mature and may well be the original specimens planted in the 1920s, 

while others are more recent replacements. Salt-spray from a tall, waterfall-style 

art installation damaged four trees in the tree line near Soissons Dock in 2008. 

These trees are slated for replacement. Overall, the tree line is fairly continuous 

and conveys its historic character. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Andes Road hedge 

Historic Condition: The privet hedge along Andes Road dates to approximately 

1930. Early photographs show the Andes Road street trees in place several years 

prior to the existence of a hedge. The hedge stood between the sidewalk and the 

tree line. It was shown sheered to a height of approximately three-and-a-half feet 

during the period of significance. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Andes Road privet hedge remained 

standing after the historic period. Today it is a fairly continuous feature running 

along the south side of Andes Road between the Library and Fort Jay’s entry 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

205 

circle. The hedge is interrupted across from Soissons Dock where an 

approximately 200 foot long gap exists. It is unknown when this portion of the 

hedge was removed. Another gap exists across from Building 107. This one, 

approximately ten feet wide, may have been opened purposefully to allow service 

vehicles to access the lawn area. The hedge is maintained at approximately threeand-a-half feet high. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES 

The British fortification of Governors Island during the French and Indian War 

in the mid-1700s represented the first substantial building campaign on the 

island. The cursory efforts to fortify the island with earthen defensive works were 

repeated during the American Revolution when Colonial troops erected a series 

of earthen batteries to deter a British attack on New York City. Their efforts were 

futile and the city and Governors Island were occupied by the British for the 

remainder of the conflict. After the war, the new American government built a 

defensive work in the center of the island under the auspices of the First System 

of harbor defense. This impermanent structure deteriorated rapidly but was 

replaced by two new masonry forts in the early 1800s under the Second System of 

harbor defense. Fort Jay and Castle Williams were state-of-the-art fortifications 

that presided over the upper New York Harbor. 

Advances in military engineering led to the weakening of the importance of the 

Governors Island fortifications by the mid-1800s. In response, the Army adapted 

their use of the island into an administrative command center, a function that 

continued until the end of the period of significance in 1966. The Army built 

scores of buildings to meet the needs of the military base, including office space, 

barracks, storerooms, and recreational facilities. In the twentieth century, 

temporary buildings were added to the landscape to meet the war-time needs of 

the Army during World Wars I and II. 

Much of the infrastructure seen today on the island was in place before the end 

of the period of significance, although the coast guard did make some changes to 

upgrade aging facilities. They built a new complex of family housing south of 

Castle Williams and removed several remaining World War II-era buildings. 

Fort Jay 

Historic Condition: Fort Jay was first constructed in 1794 during the First System. 

The four-bastioned earthen fort was rebuilt in masonry during the Second 

System beginning in 1806 during which time a north facing ravelin was added to 

the structure’s geometry. The modified star fort consisted of tall masonry scarp 

walls on which numerous cannon stood, pointing out in all directions over a 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

206 

cleared, sloped earth glacis, to the harbor. An approximately forty-foot dry moat 

surrounded the scarp walls, bounded by a series of two-stepped counterscarp 

walls. The fort was accessed via two sallyports, facing east and west. The east 

sallyport was considered the main gate, and was ornamented with an elaborate 

sandstone sculpture of an eagle, flags, and armament. A bridge traversed the dry 

moat at the east sallyport, leading to a raised barbican erected to deter a clear line 

of fire into the main gate. The interior of the fort was modified in the 1830s with 

the addition of four rectangular barracks buildings. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: Outside of routine maintenance and 

alterations made to the barracks to accommodate modern living, Fort Jay today 

resembles its appearance during the Second System. The large sandstone fort is 

surrounded by a remnant of the open glacis, which accentuates the imposing 

scale of the feature. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Fort Jay Barracks (Buildings 202, 206, 210, and 214) 

Historic Condition: Four rectilinear barracks buildings were constructed in the 

interior of Fort Jay between 1834 and 1836, replacing older, dilapidated barracks 

in similar locations. The rear of the structures abutted the terreplein level of the 

fort and their uniformly styled and scaled front facades created the Fort Jay 

courtyard. Each Greek Revival-inspired brick building was two-stories, with a 

hipped roof, and a Doric-columned, two-tiered piazza running the length of the 

façade. The buildings were repaired and remodeled throughout the period of 

significance to accommodate changes in living standards. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Fort Jay barracks continued to serve as 

housing after the period of significance, until 1996 when the Coast Guard vacated 

the island. They were remodeled and repaired during this time but the character 

of the historic structures remained. The buildings are currently unoccupied but 

rehabilitation is underway to return them to useable condition. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Fort Jay Garages 

Historic Condition: The Works Progress Administration designed and built eight 

brick garages at the corners of the Fort Jay barracks buildings in the 1930s. Two 

of the small, square, sloped roof buildings stand at the corner of each bastion, up 

a cobblestone driveway from the courtyard. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The garages remained in use during the 

Coast Guard period and received routine maintenance. Today the structures are 

in fair condition and reflect their historic character. 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

207 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Castle Williams 

Historic Condition: Castle Williams is a circular, three-story, casemated, 

sandstone and granite block fortification built between 1807 and 1811, during the 

Second System. It is approximately forty feet high with four levels of gun 

emplacements, including on the roof. The main gate faces east and was once 

connected to Fort Jay by a covered defile. The exterior of the fort remained 

relatively unchanged during the period of significance but the interior was 

substantially altered to be used as a military prison. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard used Castle Williams as a 

community center through the 1970s, after which it was used for storage, 

workshops, and offices. The building is currently vacant and in need of 

substantial interior stabilization. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Building 107 

Historic Condition: Building 107 was constructed as part of the Arsenal in circa 

1850 to serve as a storehouse. The single story brick building with Romanesque 

Revival elements was enlarged with an addition on the east and southwest sides 

in the early-twentieth century. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: Building 107 was used by the Coast Guard 

for administrative offices after the period of significance. It was updated in the 

late-1990s by GSA and currently serves as the National Monument administrative 

headquarters. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Library (Building 251) 

Historic Condition: The Library, or Building 251, was built in circa 1908. The onestory, rectangular, wood frame building was originally sided in wood clapboards 

and used as the post exchange. Later modifications took place to the exterior and 

the function of the building. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard used the building as a 

library, naming it “Tampa Memorial Library.” The building was re-sided with 

asbestos shingles at an unknown date. It is currently unused and slated for 

demolition. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 
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Buildings 513 A, B, and C 

Historic Condition: Buildings 513 A, B, and C post-date the period of significance. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard removed several World 

War II-era structures south of Castle Williams and replaced them with three 

interconnected, three-story brick barracks buildings in the 1970s. The buildings 

were located at right angles to one another to create two courtyard spaces. The 

vacant buildings are slated for demolition. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing. 

Dock 102 Barge 

Historic Condition: The barge at Dock 102 was installed after the period of 

significance. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The National Park Service installed a barge 

at Dock 102 in 2010 to accommodate non-vehicular ferry boats, to serve as a 

secondary access point in the event that Soissons Dock is non-operational. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing. 

SMALL SCALE FEATURES 

During Governors Island’s defensive period, few small scale features existed in 

the landscape so as to not interfere with outward views and lines of fire. This 

changed in the mid-1800s when the island’s function shifted to encompass a 

greater administrative role. New infrastructure was added to accommodate a full 

time population. Additions included streetlights, fencing, fire suppression 

systems, street signage, electrical equipment, and military-themed landscape 

ornamentation. Many of these features changed over the period of significance as 

features fell into disrepair and were upgraded. The Coast Guard continued to 

modify the island’s small scale features after the period of significance, adding 

more nautical-themed elements and upgrading aging infrastructure. Today, 

combinations of historic and non-historic features dot the landscape, speaking to 

the long history of military habitation on Governors Island. 

Fort Jay and Castle Williams cannon 

Historic Condition: Both Castle Williams and Fort Jay were heavily armed with 

cannon during the island’s defensive period. Cannon ringed the scarp walls of 

Fort Jay, pointing in all directions to cover the harbor. Castle Williams had three 

levels of stacked armament inside and on top of the casemated round fort. 

During the Civil War, the Army converted the structure to a military prison and 

removed the guns from the casemates, leaving the roof top cannon. Fort Jay’s 

cannon remained in place longer, standing along the terreplein until World War 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

209 

II when most of the guns were removed and melted down for scrap. The last 

documented time a cannon was fired at Governors Island was in 1966 when the 

Army transferred ownership to the Coast Guard. A cannon at Fort Jay was fired 

during the transfer ceremony, reportedly breaking the glass in many of the Fort 

Jay barracks windows. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: It is unknown if any changes to the cannon at 

Governors Island occurred after the period of significance. Currently, there is 

one cannon each in the northeast and southeast bastion and three in the ravelin 

of Fort Jay. Several more guns exist on the roof of Castle Williams. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Fort Jay flagstaff 

Historic Condition: The Fort Jay flagstaff was located in the northwest bastion 

until being moved to the ravelin in approximately 1925. The flagstaff was a tall, 

single pole hosting a single flag through the period of significance. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard changed the type of 

flagpole after 1966 but kept the circa 1925 location in the ravelin. They added a 

yardarm cross bar to hang four small flags at a lower level than the large American 

flag. The NPS removed the yardarm in 2009. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Fort Jay entry circle planter 

Historic Condition: The Fort Jay entry circle evolved from the historic barbican at 

the fort’s main gate. The barbican was a circular feature with a raised earth center 

and a narrow path on its perimeter, designed to block direct views of the main 

gate. In the 1950s, the Army altered the feature to accommodate vehicular 

parking. They removed the center barbican, leaving the exterior retaining walls, 

replacing it with a small, brick-edged, raised planter. The remainder of the space 

was surfaced with asphalt and striped for angle parking. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard used the entry circle for 

parking until they left Governors Island in 1996. The area is no longer used 

regularly for parking. The raised planter still remains with three stacked cannon 

balls in the center. Guided tours of Fort Jay depart from the entry circle. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Acorn style streetlights 

Historic Condition: Historic photographs depict streetlights on Governors Island 

by at least 1928. They were cast iron fixtures with ornamented, tapered bases and 
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210 

round glass globes. These appear to have been used throughout the north side of 

the island during the period of significance. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard replaced the historic lights 

with acorn style, black, aluminum streetlights after 1966. These are currently used 

throughout the National Monument. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing. 

Cobra style streetlights on Carder Road 

Historic Condition: It is unknown if the cobra style streetlights on Carder Road 

pre-dated 1966. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: Tall, brushed aluminum, cobra-style 

streetlights are located along the island’s perimeter thoroughfare, Carder Road. 

Several of these are located adjacent to Castle Williams. 

Evaluation: Undetermined. 

Cut-off style streetlights at Dock 102 

Historic Condition: Not applicable. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: Dock 102 is lit by a series of cut-off style 

streetlights. They have square downward facing luminaires meant to reduce light 

pollution. Although it is unknown when these lights were installed, their modern 

design post-dates 1966. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing. 

Granite planters at Building 513 

Historic Condition: Not applicable. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The granite cobble edged planters in the 

south courtyard of Building 513 were added after the building’s construction in 

the 1970s. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing. 

Electrical vault south of the Library 

Historic Condition: Not applicable. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The electrical vault surrounded by a 

concrete block structure south of the Library was built sometime after 1966. The 

vault stands on the site of a World War I-era building that the Coast Guard 

removed. 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

211 

Evaluation: Non-contributing. 

Dock 102 Shelter 

Historic Condition: The Dock 102 shelter was installed after the period of 

significance. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The National Park Service installed a glass 

enclosed shelter, vented at the top to allow heat to escape, with doors facing the 

northwest with bench seating for seventy-five people. Cases are mounted on the 

front to display information about interpretation and island updates. The shelter, 

built in 2010, protects travelers from the weather as they wait for the ferry at 

Dock 102. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing. 

Stone barbeque grill on Fort Jay terreplein 

Historic Condition: It is unknown when the stone barbeque grill on the Fort Jay 

terreplein was constructed. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: A mortared granite cobble barbeque grill is 

located against the scarp wall of Fort Jay’s southwest bastion. The grill does not 

appear to be in working condition. 

Evaluation: Undetermined. 

Clothes line pole on Fort Jay terreplein 

Historic Condition: It is unknown if the clothes line pole in the northeast bastion 

of Fort Jay pre-dates 1966. It is possible that the feature dates to the Army’s 

tenure at Governors Island, as it is documented that the terreplein of Fort Jay was 

used for domestic purposes by the residents of the barracks. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: A single leaning, rusted clothes line pole 

remains on the northeast bastion of Fort Jay. 

Evaluation: Undetermined. 

VIEWS AND VISTAS 

Governors Island became an essential late-eighteenth and early-nineteenthcentury defensive post because its strategic location in New York harbor 

provided sweeping views of the region. These views became less significant as the 

eighteenth century progressed and the island’s main focus shifted from defensive 

to administrative functions. 
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212 

View north, south, and west from Castle Williams 

Historic Condition: Castle Williams was built on a rocky outcropping at the 

northwestern corner of Governors Island to take advantage of the unobstructed 

views of the upper New York harbor, the mouth of the Hudson River, and the 

East River. The fort’s main gate was built into the east side of the structure, the 

least necessary side to arm with cannon. These views remained unencumbered 

throughout the period of significance. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The fort’s location at the northwest tip of the 

island remains unchanged and wide-ranging views of the harbor, Manhattan, 

New Jersey, Ellis Island, and Liberty Island are still available from the roof of 

Castle Williams. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

View between Fort Jay and Castle Williams 

Historic Condition: During the redesign of Fort Jay and the construction of Castle 

Williams during the Second System, the view between the forts was an integral 

component of the island’s defensive capacity. The forts were physically 

connected by the covered defile and obstructions were kept to a minimum to 

keep the view corridor clear. This visual connection remained until 

approximately 1900 when the Army built several buildings between the forts. 

They continued to use this space for buildable land during World War I when 

numerous temporary structures were placed on the Parade Ground and in areas 

east of Castle Williams. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The Coast Guard removed several buildings 

west of Castle Williams after the period of significance, partially restoring the 

view between the forts, with the exception of the Library that remains standing 

today. However, since the structure dates to the historic period, the current 

compromised view is indicative of historic conditions that took shape at the turnof-the-twentieth century. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

Views of New York Harbor from Fort Jay 

Historic Condition: When Fort Jay was rebuilt during the Second System the 

surrounding landscape was largely cleared of vegetation and without many 

surrounding buildings. Consequently, the fort commanded a 360 degree view 

around the entire island. Guns on the terreplein level were aimed in all directions, 

showing the intent to provide sweeping coverage of the harbor. As the island’s 

use shifted to include more administrative roles and newer fortifications in the 

lower harbor replaced the strategic importance of Governors Island’s defensive 

works, buildings and trees began to crowd the once open viewshed of the fort. 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

213 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: The maturation of the island’s trees after the 

period of significance continued to impact the view of the harbor from Fort Jay 

after 1966. Currently, glimpses of the water are available because of the fort’s 

placement on high ground but a comprehensive off-site view is no longer 

available. Because this alteration of the viewshed occurred over many years 

beginning in the mid-1800s, the current view is reflective of historic conditions. 

Evaluation: Contributing. 

ARCHEOLOGICAL RESOURCES 

Historic Condition: A detailed analysis of archeological resources is outside the 

scope of this cultural landscape report. For thorough information, see the 2003 

Archeological Overview and Analysis for Governors Island National Monument. 

Governors Island National Monument has been occupied by humans for 

thousands of years and evidence of this habitation is contained in the soil. The 

monument grounds contain deposits from pre-contact Native Americans, Native 

American groups at the time of European settlement, the colonial Dutch and 

British, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the activities of the U.S. 

Army through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 

Post Historic and Existing Condition: An Archeological Overview and Assessment 

was completed in 2003 that catalogued thirty-nine sites on National Monument 

land. These sites date to the Native American, Pre-contact period (pre-1500 AD), 

the Revolutionary period (1700-1783), the War of 1812 (1783-1815), the 

nineteenth century and Civil War (1815-1900), and the early twentieth century 

(1900-1966).5

 Additionally, according to the Archeological Overview and 

Assessment, “It was found that virtually all of GOIS possesses high sensitivity to 

contain additional unrecorded Native American and historic archeological 

sites.”6

In 2008, a team completed a study of the Covered Defile to determine the extent 

of damage to the resource inflicted during a 2006 golf course re-contouring 

project. Numerous impacts to the feature were noted, but many seemed to predate 2006. The subsequent report recommended not attempting to repair impacts 

from the 2006 project and trying to protect the feature from further ground 

disturbance.7

Evaluation: Contributing. According to criterion D of the National Register, all 

documented and yet undocumented archeological features that pre-date 1966 are 

contributing resources for their potential to yield information about history and 

pre-history.
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

214 

TABLE 9.1: FEATURE ANALYSIS SUMMARY 

FEATURE NAME LCS NUMBER EVALUATION COMMENTS 

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION 

Fort Jay Courtyard N/A Contributing The courtyard has been extant since 

construction of Fort Jay barracks, c. 1830. 

Fort Jay Moat N/A Contributing The moat reflects conditions c. 1811. 

Parade Ground N/A Contributing The Parade Ground reflects conditions c. 

1966. 

CIRCULATION 

Hay Road N/A Contributing The road was reconfigured after the 1911 

island expansion. 

Kimball Road N/A Contributing Kimball Road dates to c. 1940. 

Tampa Road N/A Contributing Tampa Road dates to c. 1920. It was 

previously called Comfort Road and was. 

renamed after 1966. 

Walkway between Fort Jay 

and Comfort Road 

N/A Contributing The feature was added c. 1918. 

Walkway and staircase 

southwest of Library 

N/A Contributing The features dates to c. 1937. 

Fort Jay courtyard roads N/A Contributing Scale and configuration of the roads date 

to c. 1830. They were paved with asphalt 

c. 1920. 

Fort Jay entry circle N/A Contributing The entry circle was altered from an early 

barbican. Its existing configuration dates 

to the 1950s. 

Covered Defile N/A Contributing The feature was constructed in 1811. It 

was partially blocked c. 1900 by buildings 

east of Castle Williams and further 

disturbed by WWI temporary buildings 

and the golf course. 

Walkways in complex 513 N/A Non-contributing The walkways date to the 1970s. 

VEGETATION 

Fort Jay courtyard perimeter 

trees 

N/A Non-contributing The grouping has lost integrity and does 

not reflect historic configuration. 

Trees on Fort Jay terreplein N/A Contributing Evidence of the tree has been found at the 

end of the period of significance. 

Domestic plantings on Fort 

Jay terreplein 

N/A Undetermined It is not known when the small, informal 

gardens were added in the rear of the Fort 

Jay barracks. 

Shade Trees at Fort Jay entry 

circle 

N/A Contributing The trees date to the later portion of the 

period of significance, c. 1930. 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

215 

Shrubs, annuals, and 

perennials at Fort Jay entry 

circle 

N/A Non-contributing The plantings are post-1966 introductions 

to the entry circle. 

Parade Ground turf N/A Contributing Turf has been used as ground cover on the 

glacis/Parade Ground since 1808. 

London Plane tree line east of 

Library 

N/A Contributing The feature dates to c. 1940. 

Building 513 A, B, and C 

vegetation 

N/A Non-contributing The plantings date to c. 1970. 

Andes Road street trees N/A Contributing The mixed species tree line dates to c. 

1910. Individual specimens have been 

replaced throughout period of 

significance. 

Andes Road hedge N/A Contributing The privet hedge dates to c. 1930. 

BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES 

Fort Jay 233500 Contributing The original date of construction is 1794. 

The fort was significantly modified during 

the Second System, c. 1806 and again in 

the 1830s. 

Fort Jay barracks 

(202,206,210,214) 

233828 

234334 

234806 

234826 

Contributing The barracks date to 1834-1836. 

Fort Jay garages N/A Contributing Eight brick garages were built at the 

corners of the barracks, c. 1930s. 

Castle Williams 233380 Contributing The fort was constructed between 1807-

1811. 

Building 107 261830 Contributing Building 107 dates to c. 1850. 

Library (Building 251) N/A Contributing The Library dates to c. 1908. 

Buildings 513 A, B, and C N/A Non-contributing The buildings date to c. 1970. 

Dock 102 Barge N/A Non-contributing The barge was installed by the NPS in 

2010. 

SMALL SCALE FEATURES 

Fort Jay and Castle Williams 

cannon 

N/A Contributing The current number of cannon represent 

a fraction of the number of historic guns 

that once stood on the forts. 

Fort Jay flagstaff N/A Contributing The flagstaff was moved to Fort Jay 

ravelin c. 1925 after being located in the 

fort’s northern bastion. The current 

flagstaff has been altered since the historic 

period. 

Fort Jay entry circle planter N/A Contributing The circle planter dates to c. 1955. 

Acorn style streetlights N/A Non-contributing The features were introduced after the 

period of significance. 

Cut-off style streetlights at 

Dock 102 

N/A Non-contributing The features were introduced after the 

period of significance. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

216 

Granite planters at Building 

513 

N/A Non-contributing The features post-date 1966. 

Electrical vault south of 

Library 

N/A Non-contributing The features post-date 1966. 

Dock 102 Shelter N/A Non-contributing The shelter was added by the NPS in 2010. 

Stone barbeque grill on Fort 

Jay terreplein 

N/A Undetermined Documentation has not been found to 

date the feature. 

Clothes line pole on Fort Jay 

terreplein 

N/A Undetermined Documentation has not been found to 

date the feature. 

Cobra style streetlights on 

Carder Road 

N/A Undetermined Documentation has not been found to 

date the installation of these streetlights. 

VIEWS AND VISTAS 

View north, south, and west 

from Castle Williams 

N/A Contributing Historically important off-site views of 

the harbor are still available from the fort. 

View between Fort Jay and 

Castle Williams 

N/A Contributing The view between the forts has been 

blocked since c. 1900. The current 

condition does not reflect design intent of 

Second System, c. 1812, but reflects 

conditions at the end of the period of 

significance. 

Views of New York Harbor 

from Fort Jay 

N/A Contributing Off-site views of the harbor have been 

obscured by buildings and trees since 

before 1966. The current condition does 

not reflect design intent of Second 

System, c. 1812, but reflects conditions at 

the end of the period of significance. 

ARCHEOLOGICAL RESOURCES 

Archeological resources predating 1966 N/A Contributing The National Monument contains 

numerous documented and has the 

potential to yield many yet undocumented 

archeological sites relating to Native 

American and American history from pre1500 AD through the period of 

significance. 

ENDNOTES 

1

 A discrepancy exists between the landmark documentation and the National Register database, relating to the areas and 

dates of significance. The documentation cites the district’s significance under Criterion A, associated with the military, 

and Criterion C for Greek Revival Architecture, while the database lists Criterion A, associated with politics/government 

and Criterion C for architecture. The database lists the period 1750-1949 as the period of significance, differing from the 

period stated in the landmark documentation, 1794-1985. 

2

 Frederick Black, “A History of Fort Wadsworth, New York Harbor, Cultural Resources Management Study, no 7,” CW 

Post Center, Long Island University, 1983, 9. 
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

217 

3

 Emanuel Raymond Lewis, Seacoast Fortifications of the United States: An Introductory History (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 

1993), 28. 

4

 “Governors Island National Historic Landmark District Nomination form,” February 4, 1985, Section 8, “Significance,” 

p 1. 

5

 Shannon Wright and Timothy Binzen, “Archeological Overview and Assessment of Governors Island National 

Monument, New York, New York,” the Environmental Institute, University of Massachusetts, 2003, chapter 5. 

6

 Ibid., vii. 

7

 “Final Archeological Resources Protection Act Site Damage Assessment Report, Governors Island National Monument,” 

Tetra Tech Inc., 2008, prepared for Dr. William Griswold, Ph.D., NPS, Northeast Region Archeology Program, 19. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

218 
REFERENCES

219 

REFERENCES 

PUBLISHED SOURCES 

History of New York During the Revolutionary War. New York: The New York 

Times and Arno Press, 1968; orig. ed, 1879.

Lewis, Emanuel Raymond. Seacoast Fortifications of the United States: An 

Introductory History. U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1993.

McCullough, David. 1776. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005.

Smith, Edmund Banks. Governors Island, Its History Under Three Flags, 1637-

1922. New York: Valentine’s Manual, Inc., 1923.

United States War Department. The War of the Rebellion, A Compilation of the 

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 3, Vol.1. Washington 

D.C.: Government Printing Office. 

Van Zandt, Chronicles of the Hudson, Three Centuries of Traveler’s Accounts. New 

Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1971. 

Wood, Christina D. ““A Most Dangerous Tree:” The Lombardy Poplar in 

Landscape Gardening.” Arnoldia, Vol 54, no 1 (Winter 1994).

UNPUBLISHED SOURCES 

Azoy, Anastastio Carlos M. “Three Centuries Under Three Flags: The Story of 

Governors Island from 1637 to 1951.” New York: Headquarters, First Army, 

1951. 

Black, Frederick. “A History of Fort Wadsworth, New York Harbor, Cultural 

Resources Management Study, no 7.” CW Post Center, Long Island University, 

1983. 

Davis, Jim. “The Tentative Rebels: New York City During the First Year of the 

Revolution,” 

http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2003_summer_fall/NYC2.htm#_ftn58 

Garman, James C. and Paul A. Russo, Public Archeology Laboratory. “Phase II 

Evaluation of Six Archeological Sites in the Governors Island National Historic 

Landmark District,” 1998. 

“Governors Island, National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination 

Form,” 1985, National Park Service. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR GOVERNORS ISLAND NATIONAL MONUMENT

220 

“Governors Island National Monument Draft General Management Plan and 

Environmental Impact Statement,” Summer 2007, National Park Service. 

Herbster, Holly and James C. Garman, Public Archeology Laboratory. “Phase 1B 

Archeological Survey of Governors Island National Historic Landmark District,” 

1997. 

Louis Berger Group. “Archeological Assessment of the proposed Guest House 

Site, Third Coast Guard District, Governors Island, NY,” 1986. 

Sparrow, Thomas Collection. # 1878 University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, 

Southern Historical Collection. Folder 7, Volume 1. 1861. N. York, T. Sparrow, 

Captain W. Grays, Diary, Fort Columbus. 

Tetra Tech Inc. “Final Archeological Resources Protection Act Site Damage 

Assessment Report, Governors Island National Monument,” 2008, prepared for 

Dr. William Griswold, Ph.D., NPS, Northeast Region Archeology Program. 

Warren-Findley, Jannelle. “Governors Island, New York Harbor: A Historic 

Resource Survey from the Beginning to 1996,” Final Draft 2007. 

Wright, Shannon and Timothy Binzen. “Archeological Overview and Assessment 

of Governors Island National Monument, New York, New York,” The 

Environmental Institute, University of Massachusetts, 2003. 

Yocum, Barbara. “Castle Williams, Historic Structures Report, Governors Island 

National Monument, National Parks of New York Harbor, New York, New 

York,” 2005, National Park Service, Historic Architecture Program, Northeast 

Region. 

Yocum, Barbara. “Fort Jay, Historic Structures Report, Governors Island 

National Monument, National Parks of New York Harbor, New York, New 

York,” 2005, National Park Service, Historic Architecture Program, Northeast 

Region. 
REFERENCES

221 

REPOSITORIES CONSULTED 

Brooklyn Historical Society 

Center for Military History, Carlisle, Pennsylvania 

Library of Congress, On-line image collection 

The Museum of the City of New York 

National Archives and Records Administration II, College Park, Maryland 

New York Times, accessed via ProQuest 

The New York Public Library 
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222