It’s moments such as these that make it easy to see how Georges Island’s mighty star-shaped garrison, the most popular attraction in the Boston Harbor Islands national park area, has given rise to legends and ghost stories.
Fort Warren took decades to build, and constant delays plagued the massive project - not an entirely unfamiliar saga to present-day Bostonians. Begun in 1833, it took so long to complete that by the time the Civil War began, it still wasn’t fully functional, and its defensive design was virtually obsolete.
Luckily, Fort Warren never faced enemy attack, and its most noted role was as a prison for hundreds of Confederate soldiers during the war. Among the prominent rebels confined within its walls were James M. Mason and John Slidell, the envoys involved in the Trent Affair (they were removed by the Navy from the Trent, a British merchant vessel headed for England, where the two envoys hoped to win European support for the Confederacy), and Alexander Hamilton Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy. Another claim to fame is that Union soldiers stationed at Fort Warren were credited with composing the lyrics to the famous marching song “John Brown’s Body.’’
Fortress visitors can take ranger-led guided tours or wander on their own. The former mine storage building next to Georges Island’s dock is being renovated to house a new visitors center featuring interactive exhibits, a gift shop, and a full-service food concession with sheltered seating. Until it opens next year, the island has temporary bathrooms and concessions.
A pathway from the dock leads past the fort’s guardhouse and underneath a tunnel in the cover face. A wooden bridge crosses a dry moat, and visitors enter through the fort’s original oak doors in the sally port to the expansive parade ground that once provided space for infantry training and inspections as well as off-duty activities such as baseball games. A triangular granite powder magazine is the only permanent building on the parade ground.
