Governors Island in New York Harbor played an important role in history from being a British fort in the 1700s to a station for the U.S. Army and Coast Guard until 1996. This book brings the legacy to life through never-before-published photographs, blueprints, architectural plans, and interviews with former residents. It reveals an evolving penal system, tells the story worldwide contagion and local sanitation, covers ethnic assimilation, reveals the changing roles of women in the military, and takes a look at military and civilian recreational life on the island.

Governors Island is a 172-acre park just 800 yards from Manhattan. It was a military base for 200 years and only opened to the public in 2004. Today it draws 500,000 visitors a season. This insightful guidebook is for any visitor to the island: a bicyclist who just wants to enjoy five miles of car-free biking, the Civil War enthusiast that wants to visit Castle Williams and see where 1,000 Confederate soldiers were imprisoned, or families on a picnic. The author explores the history of the island, its place in New York and American government, and its long and distinguished military past. More than 80 locations are featured that visitors can explore—from forts to officers housing and much more.

Edited by Anne Wehr. Introduction by Tom Eccles, Susan Freedman and James Lima.

Purchased from the Manhattan tribe of the Wappinger Confederacy by the Dutch, Governors Island has long been the secret island in New York's harbor. Although this pristine island has appeared on maps since the 1600s, little regarding it has been known by the populace. It has been the site of horse races, inventions, college classes, hangings, military musters, and unidentified bones. All of these are part of the unique history explored within the pages of Governors Island. Purchased from the Manhattan tribe of the Wappinger Confederacy by the Dutch, Governors Island has long been the secret island in New York's harbor. Although this pristine island has appeared on maps since the 1600s, little regarding it has been known by the populace. It has been the site of horse races, inventions, college classes, hangings, military musters, and unidentified bones. All of these are part of the unique history explored within the pages of Governors Island.