TIFF , over text files, other system files, and textual documentation. The series contains digital images of paper maps and plans along with architectural and engineering drawings of the buildings and structures in the former United States Coast Guard installation at Governors Island, New York. The drawings capture details of the buildings and structures on the island through the s, when it was decommissioned.
Found within the files are images, including building floor plans, plumbing, and other internal functions, including electrical wiring and ducts. Architectural drawings depict larger sections of the houses and other buildings, including elevations to porches, as well as aspects of civil engineering on the island.
The series includes records related to Fort Jay and Fort Wadsworth and documentation of structures erected for Liberty Weekend in During the American Revolution, colonist forces used Governors Island in the defense of New York City, but they later withdrew and the British reclaimed the island. Following the end of the Revolutionary War, ownership of the island was transferred to the State of New York.
Before the War of , fortifications were constructed on the island, including Fort Jay first known as Fort Columbus , Castle Williams, and the South Batteryβalthough the island saw no combat in the conflict. The New York Arsenal moved to the island in the s. During the Civil War, Governors Island was used as a garrison for Union troops and housed Confederate prisoners of war.
In , an epidemic of yellow fever on the island resulted in a quarantine, and several structures that housed patients were demolished. An airstrip was constructed on Governors Island, and in Orville Wright flew from the island over Manhattan and back to Governors Island. At the beginning of World War Iβin what is considered the first act of war by U.
