Above photo: Historic American Buildings Survey photo of the entrance to Castle Clinton. Photo courtesy Library of Congress. Right: Lithograph of Castle Garden during the immigration years. Source: National Park Service.

Castle Clinton Then

Southwest Battery - For three years prior to the War of 1812, the sandstone fort was built on an artificial island in the harbor. Subsequent landfill would attach it to the shore. The fort housed twenty-eight cannons and was in Army use until 1821. It never saw action.

Castle Garden Entertainment - On July 3, 1824, the complex, originally open air and later roofed, opened with exhibitions and concerts. These lasted through 1854.

Castle Garden Immigration Center - On August 1, 1855, Castle Garden opened as the first official immigration center in the nation. operated by the state until April 18, 1890, then replaced by Ellis Island in 1892. Eight million immigrants were processed through Castle Garden; two of every three in that time period.

New York City Aquarium - Opened on December 10, 1896 to thirty thousand visitors within a rebuilt Castle Gardens complex, the aquarium remained there until 1941. It was the city's most popular attraction, attracting at average of five thousand people per day.

1808 - Construction of the Southwest Battery begins.
1823 - Fort deeded to New York City.
1824 - Restaurant and theatre opened on site known as Castle Garden.
1850 - Swedish singer Jenny Lind made debut there.
1855 - Opened as main immigrant depot for the United States.
1896 - Building remodeled as the New York City Aquarium.
1957 - Aquarium moved to Coney Island after it had closed at Castle Garden in 1941.
1975 - Opened as Castle Clinton National Monument.

Photo above: Castle Garden in its theatre days, 1850. Courtesy National Park Service/Library of Congress. Below: Current photo of the walls at Castle Clinton. Source: National Park Service.

Castle Clinton Now

Saved from Demolition - Robert Moses, the powerful Parks commissioner for the city, swelled with confidence after the successful New York World's Fair of 1939-40 held in Flushing Meadows, wanted to tear down Castle Gardens and build a bridge from the end of Manhattan to Brooklyn. The public hated the idea. Eventually, the Federal Government thwarted it, with President Roosevelt claiming that bombing the bridge, if built, would block access to the East River and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. On August 12, 1946, Castle Garden was deemed a national monument. On August 28, 1949, the U.S. Senate allocated $116,750 to restore it to its original appearance.

Castle Clinton reopened on May 24, 1975 after thirty years, with a concert, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, set in the same location as its 1846 debut. The complete renovation cost $750,000 and the site opened for daily visits on June 20.

Today, you can visit the restored castle and hear the stories of its various eras in a guided walk, or just marvel at the view from its edge on a park bench. You can also jump on a ferry and check out the more famous Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from here, but that's a tale for later. Castle Clinton has a prior and even broader story to tell. With tensions increasing between the United States and Britain in the early 1800's, northwest U.S. cities began to build fortifications. New York built four; Castle Williams on Governor's Island, Ford Wood on Bedloe's Island (Liberty Island), Fort Gibson on Ellis Island, and the Southwest Battery (name changed to Castle Clinton several years later) on Manhattan Island. The forts were never used in the War of 1812. And that's just the beginning.

Photo above: Current photo of the walls at Castle Clinton. Source: National Park Service.