ISLAND ARCHIVES: A Bi-weekly Look at Governors Island’s Picturesque Past
Apr 22, 2010 1:30 pm
Governors Island Through Yellow Tinted Glasses
The Governors House and ordinance storehouse seen from Pier 101. Historic photo courtesy of Library of Congress.
One of the character defining features of the Governors Island historic district are its charming brick edifices. Many at the north end of the Island were among the Island’s first buildings including Fort Jay (1834−1836), the ordinance storehouse (1811), the Governors House/Guard House (1813) and the Admirals House (1843). Though these buildings have anchored the north Island for decades, their appearance was once quite different. For many years, the red brick of Governors Island were yellow — or French Vanilla, or Butter Cream depending on your favorite paint names.
The Block House — former hospital and administrative building. Historic photo Courtesy of NPS.
Fort Jay housing & fort. The impressive compliment of cannon were removed in 1945 during WWII.
Historic photo courtesy of Library of Congress. Factual tid-bits courtesy of NPS.
It is, perhaps, not very remarkable to find painted brick buildings. What is far more remarkable is that the paint was removed in the late 1930s by hand! Paint removal is often very rough on brick and many historic buildings have suffered from the use of sandblasting over the years. On Governors Island, even this technique might seem gentle compared to the removal of paint by the tap-tap-tap of hundreds of little hammers. Evidence of this labor intensive method can be seen in the photo below .
Only the smallest remnants of the yellow Island paint can be found on the buildings today. The photo below shows one small sample of the painted Island.
