bought it for one thousand pounds in 1758; ownership was transferred
to the state of New York for fortification purposes in 1796 with the pro-
viso that the city be allowed to use it as a quarantine station whenever
necessary. Between 1793 and 1796 the French fleet had used it as a hos-
pital base. The star-shaped rampart (now the base for the pedestal of the
statue) was built in 1811 and later named Fort Wood, for one of the
heroes of the Battle of Fort Erie. During more than two centuries of vary-
ing ownership, Bedloe Island held a farm, a pesthouse, a gallows, a mili-
tary prison, and a dump.

The Lighthouse Board had jurisdiction over the statue until 1901, when
the War Department assumed control. It was declared a national monu-
ment in 1924. In September, 1937, jurisdiction of the island in its en-
tirety passed to the National Park Service of the Department of the Inte-
rior. The National Park Service, with WPA help, renovated the statue in
1938, as part of extensive improvements which include landscaping the
whole island and providing a more attractive approach to the statue. The
new boat landing will face the New Jersey instead of the Manhattan side.
The date set for completion of this program is 1942. Annually about three
hundred thousand visitors come to the island.

Governors Island

Ferry (free) leaves South Ferry Barge Office. No pass required; for guide service
telephone WHitehall 4-8010 in advance.

Five hundred yards off the tip of Manhattan, Governors Island faces the
tali towers of the metropolis; but its neatly squared shores, its trim red-
brick barracks, its well-kept buildings, shaded walks, and historic forts sur-
rounded by green lawns suggest a Dutch village.

This is the headquarters for the Second Corps Area, second in impor-
tance only to Washington in administrative affairs of the United States
Army.

The Government ferryboat, Gen. Charles F. Humphrey, lands at the
foot of Soissons Place, named for a successful World War engagement of
the Sixteenth Infantry Regiment. From here, two roads branch out, one
leading to Castle Williams on the right, and the other to Fort Jay on the
left.

The star-shaped Fort Jay dominates the island from a knoll. Originally
built in 1794, it was reconstructed and renamed Fort Columbus in 1806.
Its four bastions of masonry held one hundred guns and a drawbridge