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ISLAND ARCHIVES: A Bi-Week­ly Look at Gov­er­nors Islands Pic­turesque Past

May 21, 2010 2:09 pm
The Chang­ing Faces of the Gov­er­nors House 

Gov­er­nors House fac­ing Nolan Park in 1896. Pho­to Cour­tesy of NPS

Same view today

The Gov­er­nors House, perched promi­nent­ly on a bluff over­look­ing the orig­i­nal access point to the Island, is the Island’s old­est hab­it­able struc­ture. The orig­i­nal build­ing was a sim­ple cross shape with two sto­ry por­ti­cos. The 1896 pho­to above shows the build­ing in 1896. It had already mor­phed from its orig­i­nal shape to include porch­es on each floor with ornate rail­ings and a num­ber of wood frame infill addi­tions. As the use of the build­ing shift­ed from guard­house to com­mand­ing offi­cers quar­ters to offices and back again to quar­ters, so did the building’s appear­ance. The great­est change came in the 1930s when an aggres­sive reha­bil­i­ta­tion wrapped the rear (But­ter­milk Chan­nel) side of the build­ing in a one sto­ry addi­tion with garage and veran­da. The bal­conies were removed and the cur­rent Colo­nial Revival style entrance por­ti­co added. This lit­tle piece of Gov­er­nors Island his­to­ry was charm­ing in any era but its brick facades show the scars of all the changes and of the myr­i­ad attempts to repair its brick walls. The many evi­dences of change were hid­den by the paint cov­er­ing this build­ing through the 1920s. Take a look at the wild patch­work of brick and brick repair next time you are out here. 

Gov­er­nors House Fac­ing the But­ter­milk Chan­nel. Pho­to Cour­tesy of NPS

 

Same view today

Take a look at the Lin­den Tree and Lon­don Plane trees at the right of these images. Amaz­ing what a lit­tle time (north of 125 years) can do!
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