Circular-shaped Castle Williams on Governors Island

VISITING CASTLE WILLIAMS

Visitors to Governors Island National Monument are free to explore the ground level of Castle Williams starting in April (the fort is typically closed in the winter except by guided tour). Rangers are on duty to answer any questions, plus five casemates have been converted into exhibit areas with wayside exhibits that cover the history of the fort. Many of the exhibits have interactive quizzes. Hours of operation vary per season, so be sure to check the National Park Service’s official Things to Do web page for a schedule.

Courtyard of Castle Williams, part of Governors Island National Monument

Exhibits in the Castle Williams casemates, Governors Island National Monument

Sasha learns about Castle Williams at Governors Island National Monument

Model of Castle Williams on Governors Island in New York

One casemate has been left untouched so visitors can see what one looks like without exhibits or other modifications. Notice that each casemate has a window. These are called embrasures: opening from which cannon could fire. If fully armed, each window would have a cannon in front of it.

Empty casemate at Castle Williams on Governors Island in New York

While the courtyard of Castle Williams is open for self-exploration, access to the upper levels and the roof is by guided tour only. Free tickets are required, and they are available in the courtyard office starting one hour before tour time. Spots on the tour are limited, so be sure to get to the ticket booth as soon as tickets become available. The tour of Castle Williams takes 30 to 45 minutes, and it does require walking up and down stairs—it is not handicap accessible. The tour schedule varies per season, so be sure to get the latest tour times on the National Park Service’s official Guided Tours web page for Governors Island National Monument.

If you can’t get a ticket and still want to attend, show up at the fort about fifteen minutes before tour time and tell the guide that you want to attend if there are any no-shows. That’s how my wife, daughter, and I got on a tour.

Student volunteer leads a tour of Castle Williams on Governors Island

The second and third levels of Castle Williams contain casemates that have either been converted into barracks or prison cells.

Prison cell in Castle Williams, Governors Island National Monument

The highlight of the tour is the stop on the roof. It is here that you can get some great views of New York City.

View of New York City from the roof of Castle Williams, Governors Island National Monument

Roof of Castle Williams on Governors Island

There are also a few Rodman cannon on display that are original to the fort. These were the largest cannon from the Civil War. Rodman guns were so heavy that many were left in place when the forts were closed.

View of New York City from the roof of Castle Williams on Governors Island

HISTORY OF CASTLE WILLIAMS

In the 1790s, tensions were once again growing between England and the United States. British troops still occupied forts in the Northwest Territories that Great Britain had pledged to leave at the end of the American Revolution, and the British Navy was capturing American merchant ships that were doing business with France—with which it was at war—then forcing the crew into service in the British Navy, a practice called impressment (the British claimed these men were actually deserters from the British military). In addition, Great Britain had closed the British West Indies to American traders.

In the fall of 1794, President George Washington sent John Jay to negotiate a treaty with the British. (Jay is a Founding Father of the United States and the first U. S. Supreme Count Chief Justice, which was his position at the time. He would later go on to become governor of New York.) The two countries signed what would become known as the Jay Treaty on November 19, 1794, though it wouldn’t be until June 1795 that the United States Senate ratified the treaty.

The Jay Treaty was authorized for ten years, after which time it would have to be renegotiated. While it was successful in removing the British from forts in the Northwest Territories and reopening trade between the two countries—and most importantly, staving off war for the time being—it did nothing to stop impressment. When the treaty expired in 1805, President Thomas Jefferson, a staunch opponent of the original Jay Treaty, refused to even submit it for renewal to the Senate (it was replaced with the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty in 1806). This revived tensions with the British, prompting the United States to upgrade its coastal defenses for a second time, a construction phase known as the Second System of Coastal Defenses.

In New York Harbor, construction on four forts began starting in 1806: Fort Wood on what is today the island with the Statue of Liberty; the Southwest Battery (aka Castle Clinton), at the time located just 200 feet off the southwestern tip of Manhattan; and Castle Williams and Fort Columbus on Governors Island. Fort Columbus was built on the site of Fort Jay (named after John Jay), an existing fort that was never fully completed. (The fort was renamed because at that time John Jay was no longer looked upon favorably due to his treaty, which was never really popular with the public. The name was changed back to Fort Jay in 1904.) In addition to these forts, Fort Gibson on Ellis Island, originally finished in 1795, was upgraded to meet Second System requirements. Construction on a third fort on Governors Island, the South Battery, began in 1812. This is now the Governors Island Officers’ Club.

Entrance to Castle Williams with construction dates, Governors Island National Monument

The defining characteristic of Second System forts is the casemate: a reinforced enclosure that protects artillery and crew from direct enemy fire and overhead bursts of shrapnel. Prior to casemates, guns were simply mounted out in the open along the top of a fort wall. Oddly enough, Fort Columbus did not have casemates, which limited its defensive capabilities from the start. This was due to the fact that it was partially an upgrade to the unfinished Fort Jay and not a brand new project. Castle Williams, on the other hand, has three levels of casemates.

Embrasures in the wall of Castle Williams allow cannon to fire out from fortified enclosures called casemates, Governors Island National Monument

Castle Williams was finished in 1811, a year before the War of 1812 broke out, though like all forts in New York Harbor, it never saw any action. It is a masonry fort made of red sandstone with only a V-shaped entrance keeping it from being a complete circle in form. There are three levels with 26 casemates on each, plus the roof could hold additional artillery. It is named after its designer, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Williams, the Chief Engineer of the Army Corps of Engineers at the time.

Satellite view of Castle Williams

By the 1830s Castle Williams was considered ineffective for defensive purposes, and while many of the guns were left in place, most of the casemates were converted into troop quarters. When the Civil War began and the influx of Confederate prisoners overwhelmed the Union’s ability to house them, the fort was used as a prison in addition to a barracks. Up to 1,100 Union soldiers and Confederate enlisted men lived side by side for the duration of the war in a building designed to hold only 150 men.

By 1900, Army officials wanted to tear down both Castle Williams and Fort Jay, but Secretary of War Elihu Root fought to keep them operational. In 1903 Castle Williams was converted into a full-time military prison and remained as one until the U. S. Army left Governors Island in 1966.

Casemates converted into prison cells at Castle Williams on Governors Island

The new tenant, the U. S. Coast Guard, also wanted to demolish the fort, but it was eventually turned into a youth community center for the children living on the base. In the mid-1970s, the community center moved to a new location and the fort became the grounds keeper’s shop. It was during this time that maintenance on the building ceased, and the fort began to deteriorate rapidly. Had it not been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, it surely would have been leveled.

The Coast Guard itself moved off the island in 1996. When President Bill Clinton declared the 22 acres of the island that included Castle Williams and Fort Jay a National Monument in 2001, care of the facility fell into the hands of the National Park Service. After an extensive restoration project, the fort was opened to the public for the first time in 2011.

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