
Thirty 6-inch (152 mm) 30-caliber ex-Navy guns were acquired by the Army, but sources do not indicate whether any of these were sent to France. In 1917, following the American entry into World War I, Bannerman sold a number of these weapons to the US Army, which intended to mount them on new carriages as field guns for the Western Front. Bannerman bought the old guns, presumably at scrap value. Ĭirca 1900–1910 the US Navy re-gunned a number of older ships. On the side of the castle facing the western bank of the Hudson, Bannerman cast the legend "Bannerman's Island Arsenal" into the wall. The castle, clearly visible from the shore of the river, served as a giant advertisement for his business. Most of the building was devoted to the stores of army surplus but Bannerman built another castle in a smaller scale on top of the island near the main structure as a residence, often using items from his surplus collection for decorative touches. Bannerman designed the buildings himself and let the constructors interpret the designs on their own. Because his storeroom in New York City was not large enough to provide a safe location to store thirty million surplus munitions cartridges, in the spring of 1901 he began to build an arsenal on Pollepel. īannerman purchased Pollepel island in November 1900, for use as a storage facility for his growing surplus business. Bannerman's illustrated mail order catalog expanded to 300 pages and became a reference for collectors of antique military equipment. The business bought weapons directly from the Spanish government before it evacuated Cuba and then purchased over 90 percent of the Spanish guns, ammunition, and equipment captured by the United States military and auctioned off by the United States government. The store on the 500-block of Broadway opened in 1897 to outfit volunteers for the Spanish–American War. In 1867 the business occupied a ship chandlery on Atlantic Avenue engaged in the purchase of worn rope for papermaking. The family moved to Brooklyn in 1858 and began a military surplus business near the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1865 purchasing surplus military equipment at the close of the American Civil War. His grandfather was from Dundee, Scotland where he worked as a 'linenman'.
#Abandoned castle on a river in us registration#
Bannerman's Castle įrancis Bannerman VI was born on March 24, 1851, in Northern Ireland, according to Civil Registration records for Ireland, and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1854. General George Washington later signed a plan to use the island as a military prison however, there is no evidence that a prison was ever built there. Still, these obstructions did not stop a British flotilla from burning Kingston in 1777. Caissons from several chevaux de frise still rest at the river bottom. During the Revolutionary War, patriots attempted to prevent the British from passing upriver by emplacing 106 chevaux de frise (upright logs tipped with iron points) between the island and Plum Point across the river (see Hudson River Chains). Early history īy the Europeans during the first navigation of the Hudson River by early Dutch settlers in the Province of New York, at the "Northern Gate" of the Hudson Highlands. It covers about 6.5 acres (26,000 m 2), most of it rock. The island is about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City and about 1,000 feet (300 m) from the Hudson River's eastern bank. Pollepel is a Dutch word meaning "( pot) ladle" Step 3 : Disclaimer & Terms of Use regarding the question " In which U.S.Pollepel Island has been called many different names, including Pollopel Island, Pollopel's Island, Bannerman's Island, and Bannermans' Island. Please let us know as comment, if the answer is not correct! Today, the castle is accessible by boat and special tours.: For years, it was left to fall into ruin, but in 1992, a resident from the nearby town of Beacon founded the Bannerman Castle Trust to clear the overgrowth and stabilize the ruins. Unfortunately, an explosion at the island’s powder house damaged the castle in 1920, and a fire in 1969 hollowed it out even further. The castle was inspired by Scottish, Moorish, and Belgian designs, and originally constructed to hold Bannerman’s weaponry. The structure is known as Bannerman Castle, and it was built in the early 1900s by a Scottish-born arms dealer named Frank Bannerman VI who had made his fortune in New York. New York - Many train passengers traveling north from Manhattan have passed the ruins of a castle on a tiny, rocky island about 60 miles north of the city and wondered what, exactly, they were looking at. state can you find this abandoned castle on a river? " Step 2 : Answer to the question " In which U.S. Step 1 : Introduction to the question "In which U.S.
