Place

Castle Island

Aerial shot of Castle Island, featuring the harbor as well as the star-shaped Fort Independence
Castle Island, home to Fort Independence

Boston Harbor Now / L. Cook

Quick Facts
Location:
South Boston
Significance:
Home to Fort Independence (formerly Castle William)
MANAGED BY:
Department of Conservation and Recreation

Accessible Sites, Beach/Water Access, Benches/Seating, Boat Rental, Dock/Pier, Food/Drink - Cafeteria, Food/Drink - Ice Cream, Food/Drink - Snacks, Grill, Picnic Shelter/Pavilion, Picnic Table, Restroom - Family, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Wheelchair Accessible

One of five peninsulas in Boston Harbor, Castle Island boasts 22- acres of land, a little more than two miles of walking trails, and the oldest fortified site in what was considered British North America. The former island has been connected to the mainland since 1928.1

Similar to many other islands in the harbor, Indigenous people have accessed Castle Island seasonally for thousands of years. When Europeans arrived and colonized the area, they saw this area (then a true island) as a strategic military location. In the 1630s, Governor John Winthrop ordered the construction of the first fortification on this site. Originally named for William II of England, the fortification became known as Castle William. The General Court of Massachusetts ordered the imprisonment of at least one Quaker, Indigenous people, and French prisoners starting on the island as early as 1661.2 

Growing tensions between residents of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and England led to the withdrawal of the colony’s charter in 1684. The crown appointed Sir Edmund Andros as the governor. Tensions continued to mount, and when news of the Glorious Revolution in England (the shift from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy) reached Boston in 1689, colonists arrested Sir Edmund Andros and sent him to Castle William. Andros tried to escape by dressing in women’s clothing, making it past two guards before being caught by a third guard. This failed attempt did not stop Andros from trying again. In his second attempt, Andros made it all the way to Newport, Rhode Island, before being captured and returned to Castle William. Eventually sent to England, he regained his freedom overseas.

The 1700s brought expanded uses of Castle Island. For example, in 1764, the island housed around 3,000 patients during a smallpox epidemic. Sometime later, Dr. Joseph Warren opened an inoculation site on the island.3

Following the Boston Massacre in 1770, the Sons of Liberty requested the removal of British troops from Boston. Two regiments retreated to Castle William, and the island served as a refuge to loyalists for next six years. The British eventually deserted Castle Island as they evacuated Boston in spring 1776, leaving the fort and the island in flames.

Beginning in 1785, the General Court of Massachusetts appointed the island as a place for thieves and other convicts who had been sentenced to hard labor. The federal government took control over the island in 1798, and the two agencies reached an agreement, where the state prison continued to operate on the island.4

In 1799, President John Adams designated the fortification, formerly known as Castle William, to Fort Independence. That same year, a Marine Hospital dedicated to sick sailors also opened on the island. The hospital used existing barracks and welcomed all officers of the Navy, Marines, as well as all seamen. The first facility of its kind to be built with Marine Hospital funds, the money came from a 20-cent tax on sailor’s salaries. It is also said that the Commonwealth’s first prison opened on the island to house French prisoners in 1799, remaining open until 1801.

In 1800, construction began on a new fort on the island engineered as part of the First System defenses, otherwise known as the first forts built by the new United States.5 During the War of 1812, the island served as a training site for soldiers mostly from Dorchester and the surrounding area.

In late 1816, engineer Simon Bernard and his board convened to select sites for a new and cohesive coastal defense network. Fort Independence became one of the earlier generations of fortifications selected to be reengineered into a Third System fortification. Meant to serve as a secondary line of defense to Fort Warren on Georges Island, construction on Fort Independence began in 1833 and took nearly twenty years to finish.6

In 1826, 18-year-old Edgar Allan Poe enlisted in the military under the name "Edgar A. Perry." Poe spent five months on Castle Island. While at Fort Independence, Poe heard the story of a duel that had occurred in 1817. According to the story, two lieutenants argued over a card game on Christmas day. After agreeing to a duel, the less popular lieutenant killed the other. In retaliation, the dead lieutenant’s friends sealed the killer in a vault. This story is believed to have inspired Poe’s 1846 short story The Cask of Amontillado.

Massachusetts Governor John Andrew sent the Fourth Battalion Massachusetts Infantry to Castle Island in 1861, and by 1863, the remodeled Fort Independence had become the headquarters for new Massachusetts recruits. After the Civil War, those stationed at Fort Independence had been transferred to Fort Warren.

In 1890, the government granted the land surrounding the fort to the city and allowed for a park to be built.7 Frederick Law Olmsted served as the park designer. Following the construction of the wood pile bridge in 1892, the city welcomed visitors to the island.

Castle Island has been connected to the mainland via a concrete causeway since 1928. In 1962, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts took ownership over both Fort Independence and Castle Island. Today, Castle Island is operated as a state park and remains open for year-round visitation.8 

Footnotes

  1. "A plan of Fort Independence," Collections Online, Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS), accessed February 8, 2022.
  2. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report: Boston Harbor Islands National & State Park, Volume 1: Historical Overview, (Boston: National Park Service, 2017) 83-85.
  3. "A Beacon and a Fort," Massachusetts State Archives, accessed April 2023; "Smallpox, Inoculation, and the Revolutionary War," National Park Service, last modified January 13, 2023, accessed April 12, 2023; Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report, Volume 1: Historical Overview, 85.
  4. "Fort Independence- Castle William," National Park Service, modified January 16, 2023, accessed April 12, 2023; "A Beacon and a Fort," Massachusetts State Archives.
  5. "A Beacon and a Fort," Massachusetts State Archives; Nathaniel Shurtleff, A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston (Boston: Printed at request of the city council, 1871), 484-49.
  6. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report, Volume 1: Historical Overview, 88,106,123,141; Shurtleff, A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston, 484-49.
  7. "A Beacon and a Fort," Massachusetts State Archives; Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report, Volume 1: Historical Overview, 88,106,141.
  8. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report, Volume 1: Historical Overview, 106.
  9. "Edgar Allan Poe Writes a Story Based on a Boston Harbor Legend," New England Historical Society, accessed April 12, 2023; Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report, Volume 1: Historical Overview, 90-96.
  10. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report, Volume 1: Historical Overview, 92-93,189-190.

Boston National Historical Park, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

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Last updated: April 9, 2024