Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-09-22
old FORT Cotton
now New York's Famous Aquari-
Urn at the Bs terry.

IA
Ing at the Battery became the Aquar
ium it had changed from fort to recep.
ton hall, from chief amusement place
Of the city to gateway of the promised
land Long before 1t became the home
of the f1nny tribe the building resound-
ed with shouts for Lafayette, Andrew
Jackson. Tyler, Van Buren,. 1t heard
the eloquence of Daniel Webster, the
fiery oratory of Louis Kossuth, the
Hungarian patriot, and the divine
voice of Jenny Lind. the Swedish
Nightingale.
When the building was new it stood
on little island separated from the
mainland by some 200 feet Of water,
and was reached by crossing a draw
bridge. A great part of Battery park
was then water. and it was the filling
In Of this stretch that made the aqua
rum a part of the mainland. The rea-
son for building it on an island ava,
from the main shore was disclosed in
a government order to Colonel Jona-
than Williams. who had charge Of the
construction Of the proposed fort. This
order said to construct the fertilization
so that the guns could be trained on
both the North and East rivers.
"a foundation should be made around
the bastioD of the old Battery, where
the flagstaff is placed. extending forty
upon this foundation a battery should
be constructed in such manner that
the run on the right will take in the
North river, while that upon the Left
will range along the courtine of the old
Battery
Such were the orders the govern.
ment gave Colonel Williams. Rut
Colonel Williams said it was impos-
sible for guns to command the en-
they were placed at the old Battery.
Two hundred feet out from the shore
was the least distance at which that
result could be accomplished, and some
time afterward the secretary OF WAY
authorized the colonels plan for the
forts construction.
In 1922. eleven years after its erec.
tiou. when the military headquarters
was transferred TO Governors island,
the federal authorities ceded Fort Col
toD-as the present aquarium was then
called-back TO the city. Throughout
the war of 1872 not one shot had tJeen
fred at an enemy from this fort, nor
has one been fred since. The en-
brasures for the thirty and thirty-two
Founders that were never used against
an energy can still be seen in the nine
foot outer wall.
1t was then that the former fort be-
came a place of amusement and re-
ceived the name of Castle Garden, a
naEie which it retained for three quar-
tiers of Il century. Two years after the
shifting of soldiers to Governors ISL
and Castle Garden was the scene of
great reception given to General La
| fayette when he visited America in
/ 1924. 1t was also the scene of a great
memorial service when he died ten
! years later.
! 1t was there that Samuel F. B.
| Morse, inventor of the telegraph, first
demonstrated the possibility of control
/ frg an electric current in 1885. During
those early years. too, it was. the
scene of the receptions given TO Ameri-
can presidents when they visited New
| York. jackson. Tyler and Van Buren,
were received there, and later on the
Prince of Wales. There also many
great political meetings were held
Some of Daniel Webster's greatest ora.
items were delivered there.
Castle Garden was widely proclaimed
as the first real home Of opera in
America. The great auditorium. now
occupied by fish, ordinary and extra
ordinary, was then packed nightly
with people who gathered to hear those
! famous artists of the middle nineteenth
century; Malibran. Sontag, Mario,
Grisi, the members of Julien's orches-
ira and-best known of aIl-Jenny
Lind, whom all the theatergoing public
of the United States and Europe wor-
SHIPPED. The first night in ps50 that
the Swedish Nightingale appeared at
Castle Garden. under the mana cement
of p T. Barnum, the choice seats sold
for several hundred dollars. Her ire
mendous popularity was made even
greater when she gave to local char
tiles the $4,000 which composed her
share OF the box Office receipts.
The next year Louis Kossuth. the
famous Hungarian patriot came from
England to the United States and made
an address to a vast and enthusiastic
| thronG in Castle Garden.
This was one of the last great recep-
lions held in the historic old building.
Four years later it was converted into
an immigrant station for the port of
New York and from then until 1890,
when the immigrat ton office was re-
moved to Ellis island. it served as the
gateway through which 100000 Of
people entered to work out their des-
tinies in the new world. In 1896 it be-
came the aquarium.-New York Sun