Colonial Era

Pre-Colonial Era

Lenape Indians settle on island they call “Pagganck” (“Nut Island”).

1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano sights Governors Island.

1609 Henry Hudson explores New York Harbor looking for route to Pacific Ocean.

1624 “Noten Eylant” (“Nutten Island”) is one of the Dutch West India Company’s first settlements.

1637 Wouter Van Twiller, Dutch Governor of New Netherlands, privately acquires island from Native American owners, Cakapeteyno and Pehiwas, allegedly for two axe heads, a string of beads and a few nails.

1664 British take possession of the island during occupation of New Amsterdam. It remains rural, housing the Governors’ sheep, cattle and coach horses.

1698 British officially acquire the island, thereafter called “Governors Island,” for the “benefit and accommodation of His Majesty’s Governors.”

1702 Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, Governor of New York State, builds a “splendid” permanent home for the British governors on high ground.

June 1710 Thousands of German refugees, on epidemic-ridden ships, are quarantined on the Island.

1732 Governor William Crosby stocks Island with English pheasants.

1755 51st Regiment of Foot is the first trained unit of soldiers posted on the island. Later, the unit is joined by the “Royal Americans,” a British regiment recruited in America.

April 1776 Continental troops under George Washington occupy and fortify Governors Island against British invasion.

September 1776 New York City and Governors Island fall to the British.

1783 British Royal Navy surrenders the Island to Governor George Clinton of New York State. In addition to three forts, structures left behind include: a wharf, three wells, three kitchens, captains’ barracks, lieutenants’ barracks, guard house, gardener’s house, summer house, convalescent hospital and barn for cattle.

The New Republic

1784-1794 Unused military facilities fall into disrepair and the island is leased for a racetrack and summer resort.

1790 Governors Island is granted to the Regents of New York State to raise funds for education. Title is rescinded four years later at the threat of war with France.

1794 Using volunteers from Columbia College, political clubs and trade guilds, Governor Clinton organizes construction of new defenses on the island. A passenger rowboat is licensed. Fare: three cents.

1797 Garrison is assigned to the new fort, consisting of “a major, a captain, a surgeon, 2 lieutenants, 3 sergeants, 4 musicians, 5 artificers, and 34 privates.”

1798 The fort is named after patriot John Jay, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court and a drafter of the peace treaty with England.

1800 New York State cedes the Island to the United States.

1806 Reconstruction of Fort Jay

1811 Castle Williams, on a point of land at the edge of the Harbor, is completed and named after its designer, Jonathan Williams, the first superintendent of West Point.

1815 Peace Treaty with Britain ending the War of 1812 is celebrated with fireworks on Governors Island.

1821 Island becomes headquarters of the Army of the East.

1823 Governors Island is designated a signal station. Flags announce the arrival of ships in New York Harbor.

1833 Ordinance Department of the Army selects Governors Island as a major arsenal, and occupies waterfront land.

1847 Island’s first church, the Episcopalian Chapel of St. Cornelius the Centurion, is consecrated.

1849-68 Periodic cholera epidemics sweep the Island.

April-June 1852 Ulysses S. Grant resides in the officers’ quarters known as the Block House.

1852 Governors Island changes from an artillery post to a recruiting depot.

The Civil War and Beyond

1861 Steam tugs supplant the oar-powered barge-ferries to the Island.

1861-1865 Civil War Governors Island is the central Army recruiting station for the Eastern Seaboard, and Castle Williams is a prison camp, sometimes holding over 1,000 Confederate soldiers.

February 24, 1865 Confederate Captain John Yates Beall is executed on Governors Island for piracy on Union shipping.

1870 Yellow fever epidemic rages on the island.

1878 Island changes from Army fortification to administrative center.

1880 City water is introduced to the island through mains under the East River from Brooklyn.

1895 First squirrels are brought to Governors Island.

1897 Congress proposes a bill to convey Governors Island to the City of New York “for the purpose of a public park.” The Army Board of Engineers, citing the Island’s indispensability “for military purposes,” soundly rejects the proposal.

1901-12 By adding 4,787,000 cubic yards of fill from the Lexington Avenue Subway, Governors Island is enlarged from 70 to 172 acres at a cost of $1.1 million. Secretary of the Army Elihu Root selects architects McKim, Mead & White to design a new headquarters for the Department of the East. All of the structures in what is now the Landmark District are to be destroyed except Castle Williams, Fort Jay, South Battery, and the Chapel.

1904 Electricity is introduced to Governors Island.

September 29, 1909 Wilbur Wright takes off from Governors Island on the first flight ever over American waters, circling the Statue of Liberty before returning. A few days later he flies from the island to Grant’s Tomb and back.

World Wars I and II

1914-1918 World War I Island is a major supply base and embarkation point. More than 70 new buildings are erected.

1918 “World’s shortest railroad” (a locomotive and three flat cars on 1 ¾ miles of track) carries coal, machinery and supplies from the pier to shops and warehouses.

1924 A municipal airport is proposed for Governors Island.

1930 Building 400 opens. Designed by McKim, Mead & White, it is the first Army structure to house all facilities for an entire regiment.

1937-1938 Comedians Tommy and Dick Smothers are born at the base hospital while their father, Major Thomas Boyln Smothers, is stationed on the island.

1939-1945 World War II Island is a major administration center and chief reception center for inductees.

1942 WAC detachment brings the island its first women soldiers.

1949 White octagonal tower is constructed to provide ventilation for the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.

1965 U.S. Army leaves Governors Island.

June 30, 1966 Rear Admiral I.J. Stephens accepts jurisdiction over Governors Island on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard.

1966-1996 Lima, Tango and Yankee piers house six vessels—destroyers, tenders and tugs—for law enforcement, buoy care and ice breaking.

July 4, 1976 Governors Island is opened to the public for the first time, hosting 20,000 residents and visitors for fireworks and a parade of tall ships for America’s Bicentennial.

1983 Burger King opens on the Island and serves beer. Other activities for officers and enlisted men include golf, tennis, swimming, bowling, bingo and movies.

1986 President Ronald Reagan relights the torch of the restored Statue of Liberty from the southwestern tip of the Island.

December 7, 1988 Diplomatic meetings between Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev held at the Admiral’s House.

Recent History

1992 Island is the staging area for Op Sail, bringing the Tall Ships to New York Harbor.

September 1, 1996 Coast Guard leaves Governors Island.

April 1, 2002 President George W. Bush, Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announce that the federal government will sell the island back to the people of New York for one dollar.

January 31, 2003 After 200 years, Governors Island is returned to the people of New York City and State through the Governors Island Preservation and Education Program (GIPEC).

February 7, 2003 Twenty-two acres of the island are transferred to the National Park Service.