Castle Clinton used to be a circular fort, built between 1807 and 1811, just in case there was a war in 1812. Disappointingly for the army, nobody came to be shot at even though they did have a war. So the army decided to leave the fort, and over the years it was used as a restaurant, an opera house and theatre, an immigrant landing depot, and an aquarium. Now it's more or less just a place to keep the ticket office for the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands.
Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 20 March 2005