Hap­py 100th Birth­day to the Nation­al Parks Service

Today is Founders Day, and we’re cel­e­brat­ing 100 years of the Nation­al Parks Ser­vice here on Gov­er­nors Island. Since its des­ig­na­tion by Pres­i­dent Bill Clin­ton in 2001, the Nation­al Parks Ser­vice has over­seen Gov­er­nors Island Nation­al Mon­u­ment, con­nect­ing vis­i­tors with the Island’s rich mil­i­tary history. 

DID YOU KNOW — Accord­ing to the Nation­al Park Ser­vice, Fort Jay and Cas­tle Williams were erect­ed between 1796 and 1811 as part of the First and Sec­ond Amer­i­can Sys­tems of For­ti­fi­ca­tion. They are among the finest exam­ples of defen­sive struc­tures in use from the Renais­sance to the Amer­i­can Civ­il War and sit with­in a larg­er Nation­al His­toric Land­mark Dis­trict, sur­round­ed by unpar­al­leled views of the har­bor and New York City skyline.

Gov­er­nors Island was a mil­i­tary post and lat­er a major com­mand head­quar­ters for the Unit­ed States Army from 1794 until 1966. For the next 30 years, it was home to Atlantic Area Com­mand, the U.S. Coast Guard’s largest and most com­plex instal­la­tion in the world.

Read more about the Gov­er­nors Island Nation­al Mon­u­ment and its his­to­ry here.

Cel­e­brate the #NPS­Cen­ten­ni­al all week by vis­it­ing the Gov­er­nors Island Nation­al Mon­u­ment. NPS pro­grams are list­ed below:

NATION­AL PARK SER­VICE PRO­GRAM­MING
August 22 — 28

Mon­day – Friday

Fort Jay and Cas­tle Williams open 11am until 5:15pm

Cas­tle Williams gift shop open 11:30 – 2pm and 3pm‑4:30pm (SUB­JECT TO CHANGE DUE TO STAFFING)

Going Around Cas­tle Williams – A 30-minute roof tour, once an hour
11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30
Meet the ranger in the Cas­tle Williams courtyard

Fort Jay: Eagles, Town­hous­es, and Big Guns 30-minute walk­ing tour of the island’s old­est fort
See a ranger for tour times

Kid’s Pro­gram – Reser­va­tion only, 11:30am. 2128253045 or gois_​information@​nps.​gov


Sat­ur­days & Sundays

Fort Jay and Cas­tle Williams open 11am until 6:15pm

Cas­tle Williams gift shop open 11am until 5:30pm

Going Around Cas­tle Williams – A 30-minute roof tour once an hour.
11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30
Meet the ranger in the Cas­tle Williams courtyard

Fort Jay: Eagles, Town­hous­es, and Big Guns 30-minute walk­ing tour of the island’s old­est fort.
11:30, 1:30, 3:30
Meet the ranger at the Fort Jay bridge

The Big Walk Around the Island – Approx­i­mate­ly 90-minute walk­ing tour. See the whole his­to­ry of the island in one go. This ranger pro­gram exam­ines most of the old­er build­ings on the island. We’ll tell you the back sto­ries on some of them. No tick­ets or reser­va­tions required. Vis­i­tors should be pre­pared to stand for a full 90 min­utes and walk a dis­tance of about 1.5 miles. No tick­ets or reser­va­tions required.
2:304:00

Meet the ranger at the top of the hill from Soisson’s Landing


Spe­cial Programs:

Fly Gov­er­nors Island –Learn about the Wright Broth­ers, Glenn Cur­tiss, and Ruth Law. Gov­er­nors Island played a big part in the ear­ly days of avi­a­tion. Join us to learn how.
Sat­ur­days at 1:30 until 924
Meet the ranger at the top of the hill from Soisson’s Landing

Anoth­er Brick in the Wall – A one-hour tour of both Fort Jay and Cas­tle Williams, focus­ing on aspects such as dif­fer­ent types of stone used, geo­log­ic his­to­ry of New York Har­bor, the art of mason­ry, weath­er­ing, his­toric preser­va­tion, and the his­to­ry of both forts!
Sun­days at 4:00 until 924
Meet the ranger at the Fort Jay bridge

New York Har­bor Estu­ary Talk – Learn about the wildlife and geog­ra­phy of the estu­ar­ine envi­ron­ment of New York Har­bor.
Sun­days at 2:00 until 924
Meet the ranger at Dock 102

Def­i­nite­ly Your Grandfather’s Work­out – Have you ever won­dered how WWII sol­diers were trained before they went over­seas? This phys­i­cal train­ing pro­gram allows vis­i­tors to expe­ri­ence what Army PT was like dur­ing the sec­ond World War. The ranger will lead the group in a series of exer­cis­es and stretch­es rem­i­nis­cent of this peri­od, fol­lowed by a for­ma­tion run around the Gov­er­nors Island his­toric dis­trict.
Sat­ur­days at 10:30am
Take the 10am fer­ry and meet the ranger at the top of the hill from Sois­sons Landing.

The Gun Show – Learn about the vari­ety of weapons used from the Rev­o­lu­tion­ary War all the way up until World War II, and the small but cru­cial role Gov­er­nors Island played. See repro­duc­tions of each weapon and learn how each of them worked and what impact it had on our mil­i­tary his­to­ry.
Sun­days at 12pm
Meet the Ranger at the Fort Jay bridge

Pho­to cour­tesy of the Nation­al Park Ser­vice. Cas­tle Williams in 1896.