Castle Clinton, NY

Castle Clinton is on Battery Park in the southern part of Manhattan. Designed by architects Jonathan Williams and John McComb, Jr., it was built on a small artificial island in 1808. Construction was completed in 1811. At that time, the building was called West Battery or South West Battery.

In 1815, its name was changed to Castle Clinton in honor of Mayor Dewitt Clinton.

Throughout its history, the sandstone fort has served many purposes. In 1821, the US Army stopped using the building. It was then leased to the city. It reopened as Castle Garden in July 3, 1824.

The structure served as a public promenade, an exhibition hall, a beer garden, a theater and an

opera house.

Because of its evolving functions, the open air structure had to be roofed over.
Again, the building was converted in 1855. It became the first Emigrant Landing Depot for the New York State immigrant processing facility. In 1890, the Federal Government took over immigration and transferred the facility to another site.

From 1896 to 1941, Castle Garden became the popular New York City Aquarium. Thousands of tourists visited the place every year. The building was almost torn down by Park Commissioner Robert Moses who wanted to build a bridge from Battery to Brooklyn. The public protested, and now Castle Clinton is officially a national monument.

New York Pictures 2009