Famous Ankles

Way down at the southern tip of Manhattan is a little fort that was built in ’bout 1811 to keep out those pesky Brits. It’s called “Castle Clinton“, apparently named after the former governor of New York.

As odd as it may seem, it used to be the sole inhabitant of a small island off the tip of Manhattan. Long ago, they did some backfilling and it’s now squarely in Battery Park. I’ve always associated the “Battery” park’s name with Castle Clinton, ’cause it was a military installation and had a number of cannon in it. I believe that’s what the openings were for originally.

It’s got a great entrance area, with some wonderfully large studded doors. Inside, it’s open to the sky, with roofing at the inner edges of the circular structure.

But mainly, it’s just a Parks center where they sell tickets to get to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. They’ve got some displays in there, but nothing that rivets my attention, at least.

Well, there is a plaque that details how Castle Clinton has fared over the years. It doesn’t seem to have ever been used in wartime, but it was a “public center” where dignitaries were received including Lafayette, Andy Jackson, and Jenny Lind. Heck, for 45 years, it was even an aquarium.

Nowadays, it’s just a little place in the corner of Battery Park. It would be great in the rain as it has covered seating and a nice little view of some of the surrounding tall buildings.

It’s just one of those little places in the park that you see and have to wander through everytime you get near it. Nothing particularly special, but it is certainly a pleasant little place.

-H

This entry was posted on July 7, 2008 at 6:32 pm and is filed under Battery Park, Manhattan, Wanderings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.