Governors Island (Massachusetts)

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1888 map of Boston Harbor showing Governors Island before the airport was built. Situationsplan von Boston (Massachusetts).jpg
1888 map of Boston Harbor showing Governors Island before the airport was built.

Governors Island was an island in Boston Harbor in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The island was subsumed by land reclamation for the construction and extension of Logan International Airport. [1]

Governor's Island was the site of Fort Winthrop, a defensive fortification named after Governor John Winthrop, whose family was granted the island in 1632 and owned it until 1808, when it was acquired for the construction of the fort. [2]

The island is buried in the area north of the south end of runway 14/32.

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Shawmut Peninsula

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Noddles Island

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Fort Andrews

Fort Andrews was created in 1897 as part of the Coast Defenses of Boston, Massachusetts. Construction began in 1898 and the fort was substantially complete by 1904. The fort was named after Major General George Leonard Andrews, an engineer and Civil War commander, who assisted in the construction of nearby Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. It occupies the entire northeast end of Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor, and was originally called the Peddocks Island Military Reservation. Once an active Coast Artillery post, it was manned by hundreds of soldiers and bristled with mortars and guns that controlled the southern approaches to Boston and Quincy Bay. The fort also served as a prisoner-of-war camp for Italian prisoners during World War II, who were employed as laborers following the Italian surrender to the Allies in 1943. Today, the fort is abandoned, and is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, as part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

Fort Banks (Massachusetts)

Fort Banks was a U.S. Coast Artillery fort located in Winthrop, Massachusetts. It served to defend Boston Harbor from enemy attack from the sea and was built in the 1890s during what is known as the Endicott period, a time in which the coast defenses of the United States were seriously expanded and upgraded with new technology. Today, the Fort Banks Mortar Battery is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fort Heath

Fort Heath was a US seacoast military installation for defense of the Boston and Winthrop Harbors with an early 20th-century Coast Artillery fort, a 1930s USCG radio station, prewar naval research facilities, World War II batteries, and a Cold War radar station. The fort was part of the Harbor Defenses of Boston and was garrisoned by the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. The fort's military structures have been replaced by a residential complex, including the luxurious Forth Heath Apartments, and recreation facilities of Small Park, which has both a commemorative wall and an historical marker for Fort Heath.

Fort Dawes

Fort Dawes was a World War II Coast Artillery fort located on Deer Island in Winthrop/Boston, Massachusetts. It was part of the Harbor Defenses of Boston.

Harbor Defenses of Boston

The Harbor Defenses of Boston was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Boston, Massachusetts from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coast artillery forts and underwater minefields. The command originated circa 1895 as the Boston Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Boston in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Boston in 1925.

References

  1. "Governors Island Factsheet". Boston Harbor Islands Partnership. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2006.
  2. "Boston Illustrated - VI - The Harbor". Boston And New York Houghton, Mifflin And Company (1891). Retrieved October 15, 2006.

Coordinates: 42°21′07″N71°00′28″W / 42.35194°N 71.00778°W / 42.35194; -71.00778