Castle Island (Massachusetts)

Castle Island is a peninsula in South Boston on the shore of Boston Harbor. In 1928, Castle Island was connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land and is thus no longer an island.[3] It has been the site of a fortification since 1634,[3] and is currently a 22-acre (8.9 ha) recreation site and the location of Fort Independence.[2]

Castle Island
Fort Independence at Castle Island
Map showing the location of Castle Island
Map showing the location of Castle Island
Location in Massachusetts
Map showing the location of Castle Island
Map showing the location of Castle Island
Castle Island (Massachusetts) (Massachusetts)
Map showing the location of Castle Island
Map showing the location of Castle Island
Castle Island (Massachusetts) (the United States)
LocationBoston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates42°20′15″N 71°00′38″W[1]
Area22 acres (8.9 ha)[2]
Elevation33 ft (10 m)[1]
EstablishedUnspecified
OperatorMassachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
WebsiteCastle Island etc.
Donald McKay obelisk

History

In 1632, a fortification was constructed on Fort Hill to defend the town.[4][5][6] In 1634, Boston sought defenses farther out in the harbor, on one of the numerous islands which protected the port.[7] In July 1634, the town decided to build a fortification on Castle Island.[7][8] Deputy Governor Roger Ludlow and Captain John Mason of Dorchester supervised construction of the fort.[7] After a structure was built on the northeast side of the island, the General Court resolved that the fort at Castle Island should be completed before any other fortification was begun.[4][7] The fort was later known as Castle William and required incoming ships to recognize the fortification and would fire at them if they didn't offer recognition by raising their flag.[9][10]

After the end of the King Philip's War the fortress was a site of internment of captured Native Americans who were shipped out to be sold into the Atlantic slave trade markets.[11]

By the end of the century, the fort had been expanded to create a crossfire with the fort on Governor's Island.[10]

Some people who worked at the fort included Thomas Beecher (ancestor of Henry Ward Beecher), a Castle officer; Captain Nicholas Simpkins, a first commander;[12] Lt Edward Gibbons, a first commander; and Roger Clapp, who served for several decades as an officer.[9]

In 1701, Colonel Wolfgang William Romer, the chief military engineer for North America, came to Boston to fortify the harbor.[13] Castle William was improved with brick walls and 20 cannon positions by 1705.[13] During the 18th century, many people were imprisoned at the Fort, including privateer Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste from 1702–06.[14]

In 1775, Prince Hall and fourteen other men of African descent became freemasons on March 6, 1775, on the island.[15][16][17] They were initiated in a British Army Lodge, No. 441 of the Irish Registry by J. E. Batt, Worshipful Master, on what was then still called Castle William Island.[15][16][17]

During the Siege of Boston, Castle William served as the main base of military operations for the British. The leaders of the Massachusetts royal administration took refuge there with their families, as did some prominent loyalists or "tories." Major Pelham Winslow of the prominent loyalist town of Marshfield, Massachusetts was the Commander of Castle William for a time during the Revolution.[18][19] After the British Evacuation of Boston on March 17, 1776, Castle William was destroyed.[20] After the fort was destroyed, Lieutenant Paul Revere was put in charge of rebuilding it.[21] The rebuilt fort was named Fort Independence on December 7, 1797.[20][21]

In 1785, the fort was designated as a state prison.[22]

  • Castle William, as it appeared before its destruction in 1776
    Castle William, as it appeared before its destruction in 1776
  • 1888 map of Boston Harbor showing Castle Island as an island
    1888 map of Boston Harbor showing Castle Island as an island

Beginning in 1801, a new fort on Castle Island was built by the war department.[3] The fort helped protect Boston from British attack during the War of 1812. The island is also the site of a monument to Donald McKay, the builder of the famous clipper ships Flying Cloud and Sovereign of the Seas.[23][24] The present structure, built between 1833 and 1851, is the eighth generation of forts.[25]

Castle Island was originally some distance offshore, but land reclamation for expansion of port facilities has extended the mainland towards it, and it is now connected to the mainland by pedestrian and vehicle causeways.[26] Today it is operated as a state park by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and is open to tours in the summer.[26][27]

Castle Island during World War II

Local lore has it that an unpopular officer was walled up in the fort's dungeon following a duel in which he killed a more popular man.[28][29] Edgar Allan Poe learned of the legend while serving on Castle Island in the Army, and his short story "The Cask of Amontillado" is said to be based on it.[30]

During World War II the U.S. Navy used the site for a ship degaussing station.[31] In 1970, the fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[27]

As a visitor attraction

Castle Island is open to the public year-round. Interpretive programs are conducted by the Castle Island Association in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.[2][32] Attractions include a playground, beach and swimming access, and restaurant Sullivan's.[33] Tours of Fort Independence are conducted by The Castle Island Association on a seasonal schedule.[27]

See also

Further reading
  • "Punishment at Hard Labor: Stephen Burroughs and the Castle Island Prison, 1785–1798." The New England Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 2 (June 1984), pp. 249–254.

References
  1. "Castle Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. "Castle Island, Pleasure Bay, M Street Beach and Carson Beach". MassParks. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  3. "Fort Independence". Object of the Month. Massachusetts History Society. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  4. Boston (Mass.) (1917). City Record. Superintendent of Printing.
  5. Kaye, Clifford Alan; Survey (U.S.), Geological (1976). The Geology and Early History of the Boston Area of Massachusetts: A Bicentennial Approach : the Role of Geology in the Important Events that Took Place Around Boston 200 Years Ago. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 43.
  6. Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet (1871). A topographical and historical description of Boston. New York Public Library. Boston : Printed by request of the City Council. p. 475.
  7. Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet (1871). A topographical and historical description of Boston. New York Public Library. Boston : Printed by request of the City Council. p. 476.
  8. Wilson, Susan (May 15, 2004). Boston Sites and Insights: An Essential Guide to Historic Landmarks in and Around Boston. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-7135-9.
  9. Antiaircraft Journal. United States Coast Artillery Association. 1923. pp. 108–12.
  10. Kaufmann, J. E.; Kaufmann, H. W. (September 10, 2007). Fortress America: The Forts That Defended America, 1600 to the Present. Hachette Books. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-306-81634-5.
  11. Peterson, Mark. the City-State of Boston. Princeton University Press, 2019, page 132
  12. Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet (1871). A topographical and historical description of Boston. New York Public Library. Boston : Printed by request of the City Council. p. 480.
  13. Kaufmann, J. E.; Kaufmann, H. W. (September 10, 2007). Fortress America: The Forts That Defended America, 1600 to the Present. Hachette Books. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-306-81634-5.
  14. Marsters, Roger (2004). Bold Privateers: Terror, Plunder and Profit on Canada's Atlantic Coast. Formac Publishing Company. pp. 35–6. ISBN 978-0-88780-644-5.
  15. Sidbury, James (September 27, 2007). Becoming African in America: Race and Nation in the Early Black Atlantic. Oxford University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-19-804322-5.
  16. "Africans in America/Part 2/Prince Hall". www.pbs.org. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  17. "All men free and brethren: Prince Hall and black Freemasonry". The Bay State Banner. September 10, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  18. Manuscripts, Great Britain Royal Commission on Historical (1907). Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain ...: July 1782-March 1783. H. M. Stationery Office. p. 48.
  19. "Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Times". Plymouth, MA Patch. March 19, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  20. Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet (1871). A topographical and historical description of Boston. New York Public Library. Boston : Printed by request of the City Council. p. 495.
  21. Kaufmann, J. E.; Kaufmann, H. W. (September 10, 2007). Fortress America: The Forts That Defended America, 1600 to the Present. Hachette Books. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-306-81634-5.
  22. Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet (1871). A topographical and historical description of Boston. New York Public Library. Boston : Printed by request of the City Council. p. 496.
  23. "Outdoor Mass for racial justice, healing held on Castle Island". WCVB. June 13, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  24. Knoblock, Glenn (January 15, 2014). The American clipper ship, 1845–1920 : a comprehensive history, with a listing of builders and their ships. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-7864-7112-6.
  25. Parkman, Aubrey (1978). Army engineers in New England :the military and civil work of the Corps of Engineers in New England, 1775–1975. Waltham, Mass. p. 20. hdl:2027/uiug.30112083820305.
  26. "Mass. State Police investigating vandalism World War II Memorial at Castle Island". masslive. March 18, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  27. Bilis, Madeline (June 22, 2016). ""Fort Independence's Free Tour Season Has Begun"". Boston Magazine. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021.
  28. Lyon, David; Harris, Patricia; Bross, Tom (May 1, 2013). DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Boston: Boston. Penguin. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-4654-1263-8.
  29. Hull, Sarah (March 1, 2011). The Rough Guide to Boston. Rough Guides UK. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-4053-8246-5.
  30. "Treasure Islands". UMass Magazine Online. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Spring 2004. Archived from the original on February 3, 2006. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  31. Butler, Gerald (July 28, 2000). The Military History of Boston's Harbor Islands. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-2742-6.
  32. "Fort Independence, Castle Island, South Boston". Castle Island Association. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  33. MacQuarrie, Brian (May 14, 2020). "Kite-surfing and social distancing, but no Sullivan's at Castle Island – The Boston Globe". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
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