History
The Battery’s strategic primacy at the prow of Manhattan has enabled it to serve many roles in the City’s history. Located at the confluence of the Hudson and East Rivers, the early Dutch settlers landed here in 1623, and the first “battery” of cannons was erected to defend the young city of New Amsterdam.
Over the years, both the land and the fortifications were enlarged. Castle Clinton was built in anticipation of the War of 1812. A decade later it was renamed Castle Garden and was transformed into the City’s premier cultural center.
By 1855, successive landfills had enlarged the Park to encompass Castle Garden and the structure became America’s first immigrant receiving center, welcoming 8.5 million people before the establishment of Ellis Island. In 1896, the Castle was transformed into the beloved New York Aquarium, one of the nation’s first public aquariums.
Following its near–total demolition in 1941 and a major preservation battle, the original fort walls were declared a National Monument by an Act of Congress in 1946. Restored to its fortification appearance by the National Park Service in 1975, the Castle currently houses a small interpretive display and the ticket office for the Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island ferry. Over three million visitors pass through its walls annually.
Today the Battery Conservancy is committed to reversing years of neglect by rebuilding the park’s landscape and completing an innovative adaptive reuse of the Castle. The new Castle will have three functions:
- To welcome and orient visitors as they board ferries to the harbor’s many cultural destinations
- To educate visitors about the many layers of history at The Battery
- To serve as a cultural center that establishes The Battery as a magnet for life Downtown.