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Castle Clinton

The Southwest Battery, one of over a dozen fortresses built to defend New York Harbor around the time of the War of 1812, was constructed on the rocks off the southern tip of Manhattan 1808 and 1811. The fort was renamed Castle Clinton in 1817 to honor of DeWitt Clinton, a Mayor of New York City and Governor of the State of New York.

Ultimately, the fort was never called into combat and the army vacated it in 1821, deeding it to the City in 1823. From 1824 to 1854 it was operated as the Castle Garden, a restaurant and, with a later addition of a roof, an opera house. From 1855 to 1890 it was an immigration landing depot that processed 8 million people before being replaced by Ellis Island. From 1896 to 1941 it served as the the New York Aquarium. It was slated for demolition to make way for the Manhattan approach to the Brooklyn-Battery bridge but was saved from destruction when that planned river crossing was changed from a bridge to a tunnel.

In 1946 the fortress was restored to its original appearance to serve as a museum and ticket office for the Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island ferry.

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