Castle Island, Massachusetts
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Castle Island
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 The Fort Independence at Castle Iceland |
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| location | Boston , Suffolk County , Massachusetts , United States | |
| surface | 8.9 ha | |
| Geographical location | 42 ° 20 ′ N , 71 ° 1 ′ W | |
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| Setup date | 1962 | |
| Framework plan | Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston | |
| administration | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation | |
Castle Island is a 22 acres (8.9 hectare ) peninsula and at the same time a nature reserve and recreation area in South Boston in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . The area is administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and, as a state park, is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston .
Fortifications were built on the former island , which today is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land and thus become a peninsula, and fortifications have been built since 1634 , of which Fort Independence can still be visited today.
history
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At the site of today's Fort Independence , which was built in the 19th century, there were already several previous buildings, which were called Castle William until 1797 and which served as a base and fortification for the British who fought against the French for supremacy in North America. It has served as the Massachusetts state prison since the 18th century, making it the first of its kind in the state. One of the more famous inmates was the privateer Pierre Maisonnat from 1702 to 1706 . The current building was built between 1833 and 1851 and is now the eighth generation. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places .
During the siege of Boston at the beginning of the American Revolution , Castle William served as the base for the British military operations. The highest officials of the royal administration and their families as well as some prominent loyalists found refuge here. Castle William was commanded during the Revolution by Major Pelham Winslow , who was from the prominent loyalist town of Marshfield . After March 17, 1776, the day Boston was evacuated , Castle William was destroyed on March 20 of the same year. Castle Island has always been valued for its strategic location, which is why a fort was later rebuilt in the same place to protect Boston against attacks by the British during the British-American War in 1812.
The peninsula also features a monument to Donald McKay , who built the famous Flying Cloud and Sovereign of the Seas clippers . The memorial points across Boston Harbor towards East Boston , where McKay operated his shipyard. The former island is now connected to the mainland by roads and footpaths. It is managed as a state park and is open to visitors in the summer.
It is said that after an officer shot and killed another man in a duel because of a lost game of cards, his friends walled him up in the vaults of the fort. Edgar Allan Poe heard of this legend when he was serving in the army on the island, and it is believed that his short story The Barrel of Amontillado was based on it.
During World War II , the United States Navy used the peninsula to demagnetize ships.
tourism
Castle Island is open to the public all year round. The Fort Independence can with a guided tour on weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day are visited. After Labor Day , the fort is only open on Sundays until Columbus Day , after which the season will end. On the last weekend in October the fort is open again for Halloween .
See also
literature
- Punishment at Hard Labor . Stephen Burroughs and the Castle Island Prison, 1785–1798. In: Colonial Society of Massachusetts; Northeastern University (Ed.): The New England Quarterly . tape 57 , no. 2 . New England Quarterly, 1984, ISSN 0028-4866 , OCLC 1759778 , p. 249-254 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The Boston Harborwalk: Learn about history . The Boston Harbor Association. Archived from the original on August 25, 2006. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
- ^ Castle Island, Pleasure Bay, M Street Beach and Carson Beach . Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
- ^ Archibald Robertson: His diaries and sketches in America, 1762-1780 . New York Public Library, New York 1971, ISBN 0-405-01224-1 , pp. 80-81 ( online ).
- ^ Treasure Islands. (No longer available online.) In: University of Massachusetts Magazine. 2004, archived from the original on February 5, 2012 ; accessed on June 5, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
