• 16th Infantry Regiment, Fort Jay, New York City, 1938.

    Governors Island

    National Monument New York

There are park alerts in effect.
show Alerts »

  • Governors Island closed July 4th

    The island will be closed on July 4th and no National Park Service tours or programs will take place that day. NPS weekday ranger tours and programs will still be offered on Wednesday, July 3rd and Friday July 5th.

  • Phone number change

    Hurricane Sandy destroyed the island's telephone connections to Manhattan. Our temporary information number for the park is now via cell phone at 646-241-2670. Other contact information can be found at www.nps.gov/gois/contacts. More »

For Kids

Play this Game Before You Visit - read on to learn more...

In 1878, Governors Island was the home for U.S. Army headquarters on the east coast. This meant that plans that the army made for eastern operations took place here. Officers moved on to the island with their families and overtime, a large military community grew. This community was not much different from the one you may have grown up in. It had a public school, PS 26, a movie theatre, a YMCA and clubs such as the boy and girl scouts.

The community formed around the three historic forts on the island, Fort Jay, Castle Williams and South Battery. These forts, along with others in New York Harbor, helped to protect the city from attack during the War of 1812 and beyond.

To learn more about this early history, why these forts were vitally important to the young City of New York, and similar forts in other harbors around the country, play "Protect the Harbor" (part of the WebRangers program). You will also find out where the other forts in New York Harbor were located...you may be surprised.

Have fun!

Junior Ranger Activity Booklet

Want to learn more about the forts on the island and have fun at the same time? Consider becoming a Junior National Park Ranger and earn an official Junior Ranger badge from Governors Island National Monument.

You Are the Engineer: Pretend you are a fort designer. Explore Fort Jay and the outside of Castle Williams, answer the questions in the booklet, and design your own fortification.

Download the Junior Ranger booklet and mail completed books for a ranger to review to:

Chief Junior Ranger

Governors Island National Monument
10 South Street
New York, New York 10004-1921

Become a National Park WebRanger

Join in the fun by participating in the National Park Service's on-line Junior Ranger program for kids of all ages. If you love your National Parks, Monuments and Historic Sites, this site is for you. Play more than 50 games and learn about your National Parks.

Share park stories and pictures with other WebRangers around the world in the "My Community" section. Now there are over 49,000 registered WebRangers; and over 1,600 have earned WebRangers patches by completing all of the activities.

 

School Groups

Visit our For Teachers section to find out more about field trips to the island, classroom visits, and other great resources for school groups!

Did You Know?

General George Grunert led the Army's investigation into the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

George Grunert (1881-1971) joined the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War in 1898 as a private and retired 47 years later a lieutenant general. When he retired at Fort Jay 1945, he had commanded the U.S. First Army before it left for Normandy, and the Eastern Defense Command which protected the East Coast from enemy attack. In retirement, he led a full investigation into the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.